One Christmas, I received an email from a company I’d done some work for, wishing me a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I appreciated the mail and forgot all about it until a few weeks later. I felt compelled to open it again and this time, I read all the way to the end. Only then, did I realise that the company had included a gift voucher for me from an online retailer and I had just a few days to redeem it. I’d almost missed out on a great gift because I hadn’t read my email all the way through to the end.
Who does that?
It seems silly to think that anyone would consider not opening a gift and yet many do exactly that. At Christmas, we give and receive gifts as a reminder of the gifts Jesus Christ was given at his birth – gold, frankincense and myrrh. The greatest gift however was Jesus himself – a gift from God to humanity.
If you knew that a gift with your name on it could help you with a particularly frustrating problem, wouldn’t you want to rip it open and gratefully make full use of it?
Something’s missing
Does it feel like you’re missing something? What do you lack? What’s been getting you down lately? Are you feeling fearful, anxious or frustrated? Do you feel unfulfilled even though you seem to have everything together on the outside?
Jesus is our source and will fulfil our every need. He is the Prince of Peace. So, if it’s peace you lack – He is your gift of peace, receive Him and enjoy His peace. Jesus is our love, joy, comfort, wisdom and power. He is our deliverer, our advocate, our brother, friend and saviour – He made a way for us to know God as Heavenly Father.
We live in a broken world and accepting, receiving and unwrapping the gift of Jesus will not fix everything in this life. Jesus does however promise that He will be with us in the midst of our brokenness and the imperfections of life and that’s what makes all the difference. God came to us – through his Son, Jesus. He is with us now, through His Holy Spirit.
How then do I receive and unwrap this gift of abundant life through Jesus?
The Bible gives us this promise
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Believe and acknowledge that Jesus is who He said He is – the Son of God and welcome Him into your life.
What a truly wonderful Christmas you will have when you accept and open your gift – the abundance of life, through Jesus.