The kids wanted to know what Dad wanted for Christmas. Dad suggested that they get him a gift that the whole family could get something out of.
So they did. They bought Dad a new wallet.
It’s Christmas Eve and around the world there will be the giving of gifts. Some people will be running out today to get that last-minute gift. Others are excited to share their perfect gift that has been in the planning for some time.
There’s a whole host of what I call single modifier gifts. There’s the cheap gift, guilt gift, easy gift, big gift, home-made gift, early gift – you get the idea. Sometimes we even have extra items wrapped just in case we forgot to get a gift for someone who pops by with a gift for us. That would be the ‘gift for a gift’ gift.
But the best kind of gift is the grace gift. The gift we receive just because someone wanted to give it. We didn’t earn it; we didn’t expect it and we most certainly could never repay it. All we can do is take it and enjoy. This is the kind of gift that God gave us in Jesus.
The gift of eternal life through Jesus is something we could never earn nor ever repay. God simply wanted us to have it. It’s so amazing that Paul calls it an indescribable gift: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15) It’s so generous and overwhelming that we’ll never come to completely understand it. Most importantly, it was exactly what we needed.
This Christmas, as you sit surrounded by various gifts – don’t forget to give thanks for the gift of salvation. It’s the gift that goes on giving. Have a wonderful Christ-filled Christmas.