God's Gift To Me

The commonly-quoted phrase, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season", is helpful in directing focus to the real purpose of why we celebrate Christmas. But what is it about Christmas that makes it especially meaningful to you?

For me, it is about expressing my heartfelt praise to God for the spiritual blessings that are mine as I celebrate my faith in Jesus Christ - my Saviour, Redeemer and King - who came to save me and illuminate the love of God into my life experience. It's a seasonal time to reflect on the impact of the Incarnation - not only for humanity - but for me as an individual. In a very real sense, God gifting Himself to me.

On arriving home this evening I found a Christmas card in my letterbox that was particularly encouraging.

What We Find In Jesus (by Roy Lessin).

We find peace, and the PRINCE OF PEACE
We find righteousness, and the RIGHTEOUS ONE
We find counsel, and the COUNSELLOR
We find wonders, and the WONDERFUL ONE
We find salvation, and the SAVIOUR
We find the Kingdom, and the KING.

In Jesus, we find more gifts than our hearts can ever imagine.

WHAT DO YOU FIND HIM TO BE?

Gowans on Christmas

Retired General John Gowans has a unique literary skill that always captures my attention. Here's one such gem that powerfully transforms profound theological truth into basic human understanding. May the words impact you as deeply as they do me!

There's nothing new about unwanted gifts. The first Christmas gift had a mixed reception, though it was blindingly beautiful. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger, God had made a gift of himself to a world which badly needed him, but didn't know it.

In the first chapter of John's Gospel we find a stunning statement. Speaking of the Son of God it says: "He came unto his own ... ." He came to the human creatures that he had made and joined them. He came to the vulnerability, which is part of being human; the limitations, the hurts, the disappointments, the suffering and the distress. Christ was God incarnate, totally sharing the human experience, including the messy business of coming into the world and getting out of it. God identified himself with humanity. He made the gift of himself.

But the most wonderful phrase is followed by the most sad. "He came unto his own -- and his own received him not!" They showed him the door! God was not welcome. He was an unwanted gift.

Christmas is part of the world's history, but it is also a contemporary event. God is forever coming into the world, your world and mine. He is always offering the gift of himself as a counselor, a protector, a companion, a comforter, a healer, a Saviour.