Wednesday, December 22, 2004
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
THE GIFT
It's easy to see how gift-giving became a part of celebrating Jesus' birth. Yes, there's the Wise Men and their gifts -- but their desire to bring those rich gifts originated with the One they honored on bended knee. Jesus was the #1 gift in so many different ways.
Some gifts are considered precious because they are irreplaceable. Other gifts have great value to us because of they were chosen with love. A gift may also have special significance for us when it comes from someone with whom we have a special bond. Still other gifts are treasured because they fill a real need previously unmet.
Why was Jesus the best gift ever? All of the above. He is truly One-of-a-kind -- the unique Son of God from eternity. With love beyond compare God the Father chose His own dear Son and gave Him to our world of sinners -- in order to meet our deepest need -- to be right with Himself.
You, know, there is a single word that sums up this fact that Jesus was chosen in love by the Father to deliver us sinners from death and hell by doing for us what we could not do for ourselves: CHRIST.
Truly, Jesus was the #1 gift of all time -- and He still is. HE is the very best gift anyone could receive at Christmas or any other time.
The time of Advent, now drawing to a close, is meant to help us remember anew this truth -- so that we see Christmas as another opportunity to give friends and relatives the best gift of all, the very Christ of Christmas.
Spend some time in prayer today. Ask the Lord to help you make a "Christmas list" of those to whom He wants you to give THE BEST GIFT OF ALL. And then depend upon your Lord to help you deliver the GIFT that is truly One-of-a-kind. 