“…the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 6:23. This is what the birth of Jesus is all about; the celebration is not primarily about His birth, after all every one of us have been born and except for His conception there was nothing unusual about that; neither is it because it occurred in a stable, or because the angels announced it to shepherds, nor the gifts brought by the Magi; these are all “trimmings” surrounding the magnitude of the event, but the celebration is because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” 1 Timothy 1:15. The important significance of this is seen in the first part of Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death”. Yes we “were all dead in trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1, but His coming into the world was to Make us alive! This was heralded in the angel’s message of Luke 2:11 “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” A Savior from what, to save us from our sins, this is “the gift of God”! This season instead of focusing on all the “trimmings” and carnal desires, consider how God wants to exchange gifts with you! That’s right, He desires for you to give Him your old self with all those sinful deeds and disappointments, and in turn He longs to give you His gift of eternal life that comes with His righteousness, satisfaction, and the real Joy, Peace, and Hope so often spoken of during this season.
A prayer
Selected by Rose Hill, Author unknown
Forgive us Lord our Christmases,
When Your birthday we have spent,
Upon our own desires,
And selfish pleasures bent.
Forgive the times we’ve pondered long,
On what we would receive.
Heeding not Your gift of love,
For all who would believe.
And when we pray, “Forgive us Lord”,
Our trespasses –add too–.
“Forgive us all the Christmases,
When we’ve forgotten You!”
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission