THE GIFT

The Gift

Tis this season to find the right gift… (That’s not right)…Tis the season to be greedy and get my perfect gift… (wrong again)…Tis the season to be jolly… so we can do all the Christmas things INCLUDING forgetting about JESUS (that sounds about right).

Now I have gone and made some of you mad…tough. I twisted words to a song around to show how people really act during Christmas; it isn’t like I changed the story of the Birth of Christ like society has over the years. Most of you are done reading at this point so for those of you still around THANKS!

I love Christmas time and even love decorating and the celebrating with good food and time with friends and family. I even play the silly gift swapping games that have become so popular over time. BUT I hate that so many people, including Christians have lost sight of the “reason for the season”. Right now I (as I’m sure you can as well) think of good gifts and also the dreaded socks and underwear as you have grown up. But even the greatest gift in the world can’t top the “reason for the season.”

The “Season” unofficially officialyl (I know) start is 12:01am the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday). I have even participated in this madness of the past four years. Most of my time in the madness has been time spent with family or friends having a good time, eating things you shouldn’t be eating at that time of the day, and really buying nothing or very little. Wouldn’t it be nice if we shared the Gospel with the same passion as we chase deals on Black Friday, or we preserved for CHRIST the same way we do lines on Black Friday? Just a thought!

This year I started thinking about gifts. The definition of gift is: something acquired without compensation. Wow that is different than most of us think…”If they get me a gift I will get them one” or “I want to see what I get before I decide how much to spend” WOW REALLY?

As I pondered what true “gift” I have in my life I came up with one group of gifts. You could argue my wife was a gift because she didn’t receive FAIR compensation for the gift of marrying her, but that is another story for another time. But the only “gifts” I could think of was: love, grace, mercy, salvation, forgiveness, and JESUS. All of which are only TRULY given by GOD himself.

Scripture:

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

(Scripture from the NIV emphasis mine)

I think that is clear enough and there are plenty more scriptures out there. The truth is that HE is the only real “gift” there is. Sure we give gifts to people all the time, but how many times do we really do it for people that don’t care for us (God DID) or for those that can’t do something for us in return one day (God did..What can we REALLY do FOR God)? Now that doesn’t mean we don’t continue to try and give of our time and services to others in the same none compensation way that God gave his only Son to us as a free GIFT for salvation to take our sin and put it on the cross.

So the real gift was born in a manger. The gift wasn’t given for one, but for ALL. However the “gift” doesn’t stop at birth it continues some 33 (yes I know some scholars argue Jesus was 30-35) years later. The gift started in a manger and continued to a cross where HE was killed for OUR sins. (Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.) BUT WAIT it doesn’t end there either. The “gift” the “something acquired without compensation” was born in a MANGER….died on a CROSS…and AROSE and left a TOMB EMPTY! Talk about the gift that never gets old. God willing and freely gave HIS son Jesus as a FREE gift to the world born in a manger sought for by the common Shepherds of the world….to die for US ALL (yes even those of you who may not believe or accept Jesus) and allowed his Son to return home after starting HIS church to one day come again and GIVE the GIFT of ETERNAL life to those that believe and follow him.

SO this year SHARE the REAL GIFT of the Season.

It is a gift freely given, (and YOU CAN’T COMPENSATE God for this gift no matter how many “RELIGIOUS” things you have done) but the gift must be ACCEPTED…..What will you decide?