All the gifts have been open, dinner has been eaten
and the children are now playing with what they have received for Christmas.
Inevitably, in many homes, the toys have been pushed aside and a little one plays
contentedly with an empty box. The glitzy wrapping paper is nowhere in sight.
The well-chosen, carefully selected gift is somewhere nearby, but all attention
and imaginative interest is focused on this empty box.
A few hours earlier this box was merely a container
for a gift that was chosen with this little one’s preferences in mind. The
contents may have been something useful or merely an item that the child enjoys.
It may also have been something that others would likewise enjoy. Yet now, as
wonderful, useful and enjoyable as the gift may be, it sits to the side as the
simple cardboard box takes first place in the little one’s heart. Yet despite
its current elevated status, the box is still empty.
As the time moves on from Christmas to New Year’s and
beyond, what will we be found taking away from this holiday season? Will we
exhibit a similar behavior to the small child with the empty box? It can be
easy to become caught up in all of the exteriors of the celebrations of the
season. We can endlessly focus on the Christmas carols and the greeting cards.
These may contain wonderful sentiments of peace and joy that express the love
of God to the world. We may even spend some time considering the biblical
accounts of the birth of Christ. (See Matthew chapters 1-2 and Luke chapter 2) These
stories are extremely important to read and remember. But as time moves on we
must remember that the manger is also now empty.
The entrance of Jesus into this world was not the
entire gift that we have received from our Heavenly Father. Jesus came as the
baby that we celebrate each year, in order to grow into the man who gave his
life to pay the penalty for our sins. The true gift that has come into our
lives, is the gift of salvation. We have been delivered from the power and the penalty
of all sin.
The prophet Isaiah, who prophesied the birth of Jesus
Christ, gave a wonderful description of the magnitude of the identity of Jesus
Christ. “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the
government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace. Of
the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with
justice and with righteousness from the [latter] time forth, even forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 AMP) Jesus was so much more than a baby in a Bethlehem
stable. As magnificent as the miracle of the virgin birth and the announcements
of Angels were, the Christ child born that night was a gift to mankind far
greater than any could realize.
Yet with all
the magnificence that is the nature of the son of God who became man, Jesus
laid down his perfection and allowed God to place the sin of the world upon Him
to experience the death that we deserved. “For
our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become
[endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God
[what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with
Him, by His goodness].” (2
Corinthians 5:21 AMP) He displays the extreme, perfect love of God toward us. “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He
[even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in
(trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be
lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.” (John 3:16 AMP)
Jesus alone could provide this gift. “And
there is salvation in and
through no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by
and in which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12 AMP)
The
salvation that we have received is a full, abundant life. “… I came that they may have and
enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” (John 10:10 AMP) We must not focus on
superficial celebrations of this Christmas season. We must discard the box and
pick up the carefully chosen gift of salvation, full and rich eternal life,
that God planned and paid a dear price to extravagantly present to us. This is
the true meaning and value of Christmas.
Enjoy the
memories of the holiday, but do not neglect the true gift of salvation.
Gratefully walk daily in the abundant life that God has provided!
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