General News
24 December, 2024
Greatest gift at the heart of joyous giving
By Ps PATRICK HOUGHTON WILL you be having a Merry Christmas this year? Maybe you’re thinking, ‘Yes, I get to see family.’ Or, ‘No, I have to see family.’ Perhaps your reaction is, ‘Yes, I’m gonna get so many presents.’ Or, ‘No, I...
By Ps PATRICK HOUGHTON
WILL you be having a Merry Christmas this year? Maybe you’re thinking, ‘Yes, I get to see family.’ Or, ‘No, I have to see family.’
Perhaps your reaction is, ‘Yes, I’m gonna get so many presents.’ Or, ‘No, I don’t know what to get people this year.’
Or maybe, ‘Yes, we’re gonna have so much food.’ Or, ‘No, I have so much cooking to do.’
Wherever you’re at, might I suggest that a truly Merry Christmas can be found in the original Christmas story? Yes, the one with the baby who was born in a manger, Jesus.
In perhaps the Bible’s most famous verse, John 3:16, we hear the joyful news of what Christmas is all about. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Maybe you’ve wondered before what’s so special about a baby who was born 2000 years ago. It was so long ago and yet everyone’s celebrating his birthday. It’s because Jesus was a gift from God, our loving Creator. God “gave his only Son,” not just to Mary and Joseph, but to the whole world.
I’m sure we can all tell the difference between thoughtful and lazy Christmas presents, as well as gifts that are given out of love and those given out of obligation.
Well, what do you make of God’s gift? He gave us his very best. He gave us his Son whom he dearly loves.
This is exhilarating. God cares about his world! He loves us! And not just with well-wishes and good vibes. He loves us so much he’s sent us his very heart.
And there’s more. Along with the gift of Jesus comes the gift of never-ending life.
God gave Jesus so “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” And that, by the way, doesn’t mean life forever as we know it, in a world full of tragedies and injustices, hobbling around in deteriorating bodies.
God has better things ahead for those who receive this gift – a new world, healed bodies, and life forever with our Maker, the one who completes us.
When you stop to think about it, what a joy it would be to have that to look forward to!
And so with that in mind, I wish you a Merry Christmas.
* Patrick Houghton is the pastor at Boort Baptist Church