"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Many around the globe today are shopping for what is perceived as the "perfect gift" for their family or friend. Frustrations run high because too many never do find that perfect gift either due to insufficient resources or just the mere fact of not being able to locate something that seems to be "perfect". My hope is that those reading this who are already Christ followers recognize the perfect gift was given to us all those years ago in the form a precious baby born in humble surroundings, giving us the greatest gift of all... life.
What would life be like today if Jesus Christ was never born in that manger? What would our future, our hopes or our dreams look like if he hadn't willingly came to this earth in human flesh to walk among us to understand our weaknesses and give up his life for them? I shudder at the thought of my life without Christ... the void of the perfect gift is more than I can imagine.
Every year it seems that I hear people say, Christmas has just become too commercialized and I will agree with that statement 100%, but the fact of the matter is that we say it and then we rush to the local mall to pick out those perfect gifts to give in hopes to bring a smile to another's face. We have those who choose not to exchange gifts as well. Are either of these wrong according to scripture? Are we hurting another by giving or not giving a gift to someone at this season of hope? If only we could make it about the giving and not the gift and pray that the gift has already been received by the acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Love comes in a variety of packages, gifts you might call them. There is no greater gift we can give one another than to give our love. I happen to enjoy the act of gift giving, to see my loved one's faces light up when they see the brightly packaged present before them. I don't know, I can't help but think that Jesus just might be smiling knowing that his birthday (or the day we set aside as his birthday) is the day we choose to give more to one another than any other day. It's not just in the gifts that we can touch and feel, but the gifts of our time and opening up of our hearts to set aside times to fellowship and do charitable acts for others. Gift giving isn't the problem... the problem is in forgetting the greatest gift, the perfect gift, we've already been given.
I pray this season you focus on the perfect gift and recognize you will never find it in the mall. Jesus gave us all a life changing gift the day he took on flesh and chose to be the perfect sacrifice, the perfect gift, to save us from a life void of God. Jesus came to be our wonderful counselor, our prince of peace, mighty God and everlasting father to us all.
As this year closes and a new year fastly approaches, I pray that we see each day as an opportunity to give to others the perfect gift, the gift of life eternal through the acceptance of Jesus as Savior. If you haven't already accepted the perfect gift for your own life, all you need to do is confess your sins to God and accept him as savior in your life. Simply pray a prayer such as:
"Dear God, I know that I am a sinner weak in flesh and spirit. I ask that you come into my heart and forgive me of my sins and wash me clean again. I pray to receive the perfect gift this season in accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior of my life. Amen."
God Bless you and keep you firmly in his hands this coming year. Continue to count the blessing of the perfect gift found in the acceptance of Christ Jesus and the love shared with one another.
Under His Wings,
Heather
