The Empty Box

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!