Thursday, December 8, 2016
Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son ...
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
Every year, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we hear about the same gift: God sent forth His Son ... Can you imagine opening a package every year for twenty or thirty years and finding a pair of socks, always the same kind and color? How easy it would be to yawn and say, "Yep, here are the socks again," wouldn't it? We might quickly lay them aside and look for something that was kept secret, something that is a bit more of a surprise.
"God sent forth His son" -- No surprise there. So how can we enjoy Christmas with the same warmth of faith and love we had at the beginning? Well, think of those socks again. What if they were the only socks we ever had, and what if our feet have been freezing for a month and a half now. Then we might enjoy the socks more, might not be able to get them on fast enough! And knowing that the pair of socks was coming, we would not shop for other socks full of holes.
The fact is, that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son-- and it was His O n e - a n d - O n l y Son-- to give His life in place of ours. Can we, then, put on Christ too swiftly? When it is cold death that awaits us without Him, can we yawn and lay Him aside like an old garment? Or go out and shop for some good intentions, victorious living, others' faults, or pain and suffering to give us standing before God? The blood of Jesus alone cleanses us from all sin. What a gift! There is nothing we need more. There is nothing more surely given to us. May all of our preparations point to this gift, and so increase our appreciation of Him.
