‘The giving of gifts is not something man invented. God started the giving spree when he gave a gift beyond words, the unspeakable gift of His Son.’ – Robert Flatt.
December is here, and you are most likely already in the thick of Christmas shopping. I believe there are three kinds of Christmas gift shoppers. The first is the uber-organised, who started in September (or earlier) and has at this point already finished, including the wrapping. The second is the ‘last-minute-dot-com’ type of shopper, who is rushing around on the twenty-fourth of December, in hopes of finding the perfect gift in the space of two hours. The third type of shopper sits somewhere in the middle. It has to be said, that since the growth of online shopping, these lines have been somewhat blurred as of late, but I digress.
I tend to be the second kind of shopper. Though I may plan meticulously what I want to buy and for whom, I often don’t execute my plan until the last minute, and sometimes run into some disappointments. I find myself getting frustrated with trying to find the perfect present and trying to please everyone, that I end up often not pleasing anyone. And while I absolutely love Christmas, I sometimes get frustrated, and start questioning, ‘what’s the point?’
And that’s when it hits me, again (it takes me a while to catch on at times). The point of Christmas isn’t the presents I give, but the ultimate present we all receive: Jesus. You see, God isn’t like a regular shopper. He knew exactly what He was going to give His people, those who believe in Him: forgiveness, grace, mercy, eternal life. God didn’t make a last minute decision, or do a quick Amazon Prime search for ‘great last minute gifts.’ No, from the very beginning God knew what His present to the world was going to be. How amazing is that… God is one of the uber-organised ones. And the gift he gave, was one that nobody saw coming. We read in scripture:
Joseph went there (Bethlehem) to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.
The gift of Jesus, the Saviour, the Messiah, came as a baby…WOW!
However, much like we can discard or reject a present that is given to us, as not good enough, or nice enough, or simply, not a gift we want now, we can choose to reject the present of Jesus. Now maybe you are sat there reading this, thinking to yourself, I don’t want that present. To you, I would ask why? If I said to you, I have the best gift money could buy, the most amazing gift this world has to offer, would you not be interested?
So maybe this Christmas season, I can encourage you to explore what this gift is all about. This gift that billions of people worldwide have received and hold as the most precious ever. Maybe you want to join us or St Mary’s for services this season. Ask the questions; start a journey; find out for yourself if this present is worth accepting and holding on to.
ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN THE DECEMBER 2017 EDITION OF THE GAMLINGAY GAZZETTE.
Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash
Simple Faith 