The Gift With The Power to Shut Christmas DOWN!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I was on Facebook and then I saw it.  My face burned hot with indignation after I read this comment:

“These kids might not have a Christmas if they don’t get presents.”

I stopped in my tracks at that one. I really did. The kids “Might not have a Christmas??”  “If they don’t get presents??”  REALLY??

Please don’t think I am trying to be insensitive. I’m not. I do understand the sentiment behind the comment. But in this annual cultural war over the criteria for what it means to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, those words struck a nerve with me.

As I peeled back the layers of that statement, I concluded that a person who truly understands Christmas wouldn’t be comfortable saying such a thing.

And then in a moment, my initial feeling of indignation quickly melted into pity and compassion for this person. The thoughts that formed these words are a dip stick of what is inside her heart. And that is heartbreaking.

The Disappearing Christmas

She concluded Christmas will not exist if gifts do not exist.  But quite honestly, she is completely correct to a point. Ultimately, there really is one gift that could shut down Christmas quicker than a wink should it turn up missing.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God freely presents Christ and His atoning work to us as a gift. And Christmas is a remembrance of the momentous birth that set a chain of events into motion leading all the way to Cross. (Romans 5:10) Apart from the power of Christ’s cleansing sacrifice on our lives, we stand as enemies of God facing His wrath. That is seriously bad news.

But here’s the Good News-if we trust in all Christ accomplished on our behalf, then God declares us NOT GUILTY! And instead of being enemies of God, we are grafted into His family as sons and daughters!

HOLD. THE. PHONE.

Did you catch that??

THAT is an AWESOME gift.  Unspeakable, even…and guess what? You can’t buy it, and then wrap up real pretty-like to place under the tree!

Conclusion??

If we base whether or not Christmas comes by the existence of physical gifts under the tree, then we actually negate the GREATEST GIFT OF ALL!

And that means if Christ is all we have, NOTHING will be under the tree Christmas morning. But it is enough. I know one thing-If you take Christ from me, I really will have NOTHING no matter how many presents you try to give me!

WE Might Not Have a Christmas If…

So, rewind…let’s look at that statement again.

“These kids might not have a Christmas if…”

Think it over.  How would you finish that statement? Here’s how I finish this statement for myself as I think of my own family-

These kids might not have a Christmas if:

*I don’t teach them that God is Creator of all things and He made them for HIS glory;

*I don’t show them that Jesus is more valuable than anything on this earth, and then endeavor to live it out (though imperfectly) because it is a reality in my heart;

*I don’t tell them the Christmas story in some part everyday/often so they understand CHRIST is really important;

*I don’t let them know that our merciful and gracious God shared THE greatest gift that could ever be given!

These kids will not have a Christmas if I don’t teach them that the GOSPEL is the TRUE reason for Christmas!

So Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Now (and all the year though!)

Even if we have just one gift, twenty gifts or no gifts under the tree, we should always celebrate this: Christ is living and dying proof that God is in the business of loving His people and changing our hearts!!

That is EXCITING and MIRACULOUS!!

This Christmas, REJOICE that God sent a baby born in a manger to be the Savior who died on a tree as an atoning sacrifice for all nations!

You will NEVER find that under a tree no matter how hard you look!

So, get outta here and have a GREAT BIG MERRY Christmas!

Photo Credit: Creation Swap, Lights on Cross, Matt Grueber

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