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“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son...” John 3:16
The season of Advent leading up to Christmas is filled with much excitement, expectation, and undoubtedly unnecessary stress and pressure. We scour store shelves, or more likely, e-commerce, for the ideal gifts. We decorate our spaces, gather food for the perfect meal, and bake cookies. But when the day comes (and goes), do we have the tendency to feel a little let down? Perhaps you did not receive that one gift, something did not arrive in time, a string of lights went out, the meal did not turn out quite right, you or family members fell ill, or it could even be that you did not get that pew you were hoping for at church. All of this to celebrate the most important gift of all — Jesus — and His birthday: God’s gift to humanity.
Let us not diminish or minimize the very powerful and common words Jesus spoke — that His father loved the world, all of His creation, so much that He ransomed His Son, so that we will live with Him in eternity — the Gospel in a nutshell! This everlasting gift that God has given us was the most sacrificial thing He possibly could have offered, and not because we deserved it — quite the opposite. The Bible tells us, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Regardless of the outcome of our Christmas plans, let us be mindful it is not about the gifts under the tree; all of those things will be gone one day. Rather, let us focus on the true gift we have in our inheritance, kept in Heaven for us, pure and undefiled, and beyond the reach of change and decay (1 Peter 1:4). Until that day when our earthly bodies are resurrected, all that will be left at the end of this life is our soul in the presence of God. May we live with great expectation in the year to come, being reminded that life is about what happens beyond the grave. It is knowing the God who made you and gave you the greatest gift you will ever receive — priceless!
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