The Best Gift of All

Think about the most stupendous Christmas gift you have received in the past. Was it those adjustable roller skates that clamped to your shoes? Shiny new bicycle? Hair accessories and crimper from the 80’s? Brand new, curved, 3-D, 70” TV? Maybe something more substantial, like an engagement ring or a cruise?

Great as these gifts are, none of them will last. The skates will rust, the bicycle will lose its shine. Let’s not talk about the fashion choices of the 80’s. The TV will become obsolete, probably in less than a year. The cruise will turn to only memories. Even the engagement ring will go through hard times when it doesn’t feel so sparkly. The only gift that will truly last is the very first Christmas gift.

Jesus Christ really was a gift. Sent by His Father to be a sacrifice for the sins already committed by the world and those sins yet to come, Christ came not by command, but of His own free will, by request. What parent could offer his or her child for betrayal and torture by people who didn’t care? Yet God loved us enough to allow His Child to volunteer (not my will, but thine) for this, to create a way for us to be reconciled to God. And because Christ lived as a human, He intercedes for us with God, fully understanding how fragile and foolish we can be.

This gift never rusts, never becomes obsolete, never goes out of fashion, never loses its sparkle. He will never leave us, never betray us, always love us. Accepting that personal relationship, that friendship, with Jesus gives us life eternal, in a place with no more tears, no suffering, no pain. What greater gift could there be?