He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:11-12
The Gift
Picture this: It is Christmas morning. The kids are up well before the rising of the sun. They wake up dad and mom and run downstairs to the tree. To their delight, the presents are wrapped and stacked up under the tree. They begin shaking the presents and figuring out which one is theirs. The air is filled with the sounds of laughter and excited giggles and maybe even some Christmas music in the background. Finally, it is time to open presents and one of the children stands up, gives a wave of the hand and with a frown on his face says, "no thanks," before walking away to go find something else to do.
Yeah, right! That's a pretty unrealistic story, isn't it? Who doesn't love opening gifts? Who doesn't love receiving gifts from loved ones, gifts that are unearned and undeserved?
Actually, that's what many people have done with the greatest gift ever given. Chapter 1 of John's Gospel reminds us that many did not receive Jesus and had no interest in the gift of a Savior. It's still true. There are many in this world that did not join us in celebrating his birth yesterday.
Did you? Did you receive your Savior? Or have you been a little too busy lately to spend much time thinking about the greatest gift anyone ever gave to you? Like the hypothetical child walking away from the tree without opening the gifts, we are tempted to walk away from Jesus. We all have so much going on in our lives. We all are so busy. We have to work so many hours. We have other obligations. Suddenly, maybe without us even realizing it, we don't really have any time for Jesus.
Let's change that today. Let's change that right now. Today and every day, let's spend more time with the One who always has time for us. Let's receive and appreciate and cherish the Gift. Let's spend time with Jesus and his Word. Let's talk to him more often and make time for him in our lives. Let's fill ourselves up with his love so that we are ready to share his love with others the whole year through. Let's thank God today and every day for his gift of a Savior.
Prayer:
Dear God, what a wonderful gift you have given to us in Jesus! Help us never to walk away from him, but instead, help us to always appreciate what he has done for us. Keep us always through faith in him. Amen.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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