Ah, Christmas is almost upon us. If one
more person asks me, "Bought all your gifts?" or "Done all
your shopping?" I do believe I will scream! I am all for
Christmas. I enjoy the excitement it brings children, I enjoy the Christmas
specials, the church musicals, and the like. But just what are we doing,
folks?
Once as I was putting my young daughter
to bed, she asked a very profound question: "Dad, if Christmas is
Jesus' Birthday, why do we give each other presents?" Hmm...Just what
are we doing? Who is giving what, to whom?
Jesus is OUR gift from the
Father, and through faith in Jesus we are given the gift of salvation. Even
the faith which enables us to believe, is a gift from God.
Luke 2:11 (NIV) Today in
the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV) For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Now you can say "okay David, what's
the point?" Well, what does Jesus receive on His birthday (besides the
gifts of gold, incense and myrrh given at His birth)? What can we
give Jesus? Talk about not knowing what to give to someone Who has
everything! Jesus has it all, except our hearts. Have you fully surrendered
yourself to Him?
John 17:24 (NIV) Father,
I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my
glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation
of the world.
Believers in Jesus Christ are gifts to
Jesus from the Father. We are Christ's presents. Thinking about this makes
me want to pour out love to Christ.
John 14:3 (NIV) And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am.
Colossians 3:4 (NIV) When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also
will appear with him in glory.
Our hope and faith lie in the above
verses; they hinge upon being with Jesus forever. Jesus is preparing a place
for us in Heaven, but only if we believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord
and Savior.
My prayer for my fellow believers this
Christmas is that we will take seriously our role as gifts to Jesus from the
Father, and that we will take seriously the awesome gift of eternal life
with Jesus. He takes very good care of His gifts. During this Advent season,
churches will be filled with non-believers. I pray that they will see Christ
in us and want to investigate Christianity further. For those of you who
are not quite sure about all this "accepting Jesus" stuff, or
about Jesus being a gift and us being a gift to Him, my prayers are for you
to keep hanging around the church, keep seeking Jesus, and keep looking at
and investigating Christ.
So who is giving what,
to whom? God gave us Jesus, Who through our faith and belief gives us
eternal life -- which in turn gives us to Jesus. Sounds like Christmas to
me! It sounds like exchanging gifts... but these gifts never die, rot, fade,
go out of style or burn up; they last forever!
Dear Lord, thank You for
our gift of eternal life, for the Babe in the manger, Jesus. Thank You for
giving us the faith to believe in and accept Him as our Savior.
Father, forgive us for falling short of Your mark. Lead us to repentance and
make us right with You. Help us to be the perfect gifts to Jesus, by being
all that You made us to be. In His name, Amen.
David Massey
