The Unopened Gift

I think I went a little overboard with buying gifts for my husband this Christmas.  I kept finding interesting things online so 10 gifts ended up under our tree just for him.

Wouldn’t it be a little strange if he left those gifts unopened?  What if my husband said, “Oh what a nice tree and look at all those gifts!” but then went away and never opened the gifts with his name?  If he disregards the gifts and doesn’t open them, they become useless to him, hidden treasures that are nice to look at but simply remain wrapped up.

Don’t Disregard Your Christmas Gift!

Of course we shouldn’t leave a gift unopened.  We unwrap it, use it and enjoy it the way it was intended.  We are grateful for the giver being so generous.  The gift becomes everything it was meant to be for us!

Sadly, some people enjoy the Christmas trees, the lights and the music but ignore the real reason that we celebrate Christmas.  They walk by the nativity scene and may even consider how nice it is but then walk away, without “opening” the greatest gift that has ever been offered to mankind. 

How do we open the greatest gift of all?

The greatest gift to us from God is the offer of salvation and forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus came to earth to “give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)  We celebrate Jesus’ entrance into our physical world with His birth at Christmas.  He then went on to willingly sacrifice His life, shed His blood as payment for our sins, and provide us with eternal life. 

The Bible tells us that we receive this precious gift by faith.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This precious gift is “opened” by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus.  As we follow Him, we study Scripture, listen to preaching of the Word, fellowship with Christians, witness to others and obey what God leads us to do.  In this way we become what God desires and we further His Kingdom and mission on earth. 

The gift that keeps on giving

God’s greatest gift is also the biggest and most amazing gift because it continues to grow.   How does it keep growing?  Even beyond salvation from our sins and knowing we have been given eternal life, Jesus came to earth to bring the Kingdom of God right to our very hearts. 

The Holy Spirit indwells Believers and helps us to follow the Lord Jesus, obey His Word and further His Kingdom throughout the world.  So the gift of Jesus’ birth into this sinful, helpless and hopeless world is greatest gift given to mankind.  The Holy Spirit has been given to live within Believers and the Kingdom of God is still growing!

Don’t forget to open all of your gifts!

I’m sure you won’t leave any of your Christmas gifts unopened this year.  But don’t forget to open the greatest gift of all…. forgivenss of sins, salvation for eternity, and living your life with the Holy Spirit in your heart!

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, (which means “God with us”) Matthew 1:23