The Perfect Gift

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Only 29 shopping days till Christmas I heard said recently.  What a chilling thought!

If you are anything like me, every year when you are fighting your way through the crowds of Christmas shoppers you promise yourself that next year things will be different.  For once you will be well-organised and get all your presents in the January sales, and have them all wrapped and tagged and sitting in the loft ready for the following Christmas. Then, as Christmas approached, and everyone else was scurrying hither and thither on Guildford High Street, you would actually have time to enjoy the lights and the decorations and the window displays for a change.

But don't worry, I myself have never managed to live up to these lofty ideals yet (and if I did, I would only forget where I had put everything) so take heart, I will be out there with the rest of you on Christmas Eve tearing my hair out and wondering what I am ever going to get for the aunt who has everything and then, in the last five minutes before the shops close, racing into The Body Shop and getting her (yet another) gift box of smellies to add to her stockpile. 

How thankful I am that God is nothing like me and, possibly, some of you, whose Christmas giving is too often limited by so many things: lack of thought, lack of time, lack of planning and lack of money. When God gives us something, however, He knows not only exactly what we need but also what is best for us, and nothing is too costly. Sometimes we are only motivated by a sense of duty or habit or selfishness - not so God! He gives because He loves us and not because He has to, or even wants anything in return.

But what did He give?  The Bible says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”.

Why did He give His very own Son?  The same verse goes on to say “ so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.

What an amazing gift!  The Bible calls it “indescribable”.  Words just cannot do it justice, and yet the essence of it is quite simple:  God became a man in order that He might die on the cross and take the punishment for our sins, so that if we acknowledge that He died in our place and rose again, and accept Him as our personal Saviour, we might have the gift of eternal life. 

I daresay that not too many of the presents we give and receive this Christmas will last beyond the end of January, let alone until next Christmas. God on the other hand offers us a gift that is everlasting.  Just remember, however, that like all gifts you can receive it or refuse it! But you refuse God's gift at your peril!     

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