My very favorite time of year is the Christmas season. I love everything it represents—Our Savior’s birth, family, friend time, parties, and special event—all happen during this time. It brings everyone together! We spend weeks and weeks preparing for these celebrations, ensuring each detail is correct and in order. We spend hours scanning aisles and scrolling on our phones to find the perfect gifts for each person we love. With the excitement of all the season brings, we can become so wrapped up in the details we can quickly become distracted by our why and the real reason for this Christmas season: Jesus!
When I look back throughout the years and begin to reminisce on all the Christmas memories we have had in years past, my mind always tends to go to the Christmases when my children were young. I would spend months prior planning every detail, shopping, and wrapping each gift for them with beautiful ribbons and bows in order to make their Christmases unforgettable. We always tried to get them most of their wants and all of their needs each year. Nothing in the world compared to seeing their bright, sleepy little eyes race to the Christmas tree each Christmas morning, excited to see what gifts awaited them. They didn’t know all the sacrifices it took for us to get the gifts under the tree. All they knew was that they went to bed and the following day when they woke, they were there. They were so excited and thankful for their gifts.
I think about a young virgin girl named Mary from Nazareth. I think about how scared she must’ve been when she was told she would be the mother of the savior of the world. She was carrying the greatest gift on the planet! Oh, how her heart must’ve broken when she had to watch her son die on the cross to save a fallen world. What a sacrifice that was. What a sacrifice it was for the Lord to give His only son that we might be saved.
John 3:16 tells of the greatest gift ever given. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (ESV). A gift given thousands of years ago is still transforming lives today. It was, is, and will always be the greatest gift you and I will ever accept in our lifetime.
I love this song that The Blythe Family wrote. The chorus simply says:
The greatest gift I’ve been given
Was sent to me from Heaven
When God gave His only son
He sent His very best
He wasn’t wrapped in gold silver
But swaddling clothes instead
No other gift can compare to this
Jesus is still the greatest gift!
In the busyness of this Christmas season, what are we doing with the most important gift ever given to us? Are we taking time to reflect on just how important that gift was for all of humankind?
Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters this holiday season. I ask that in the hustle and bustle that this time brings, we may never forget to reflect on the greatest gift ever given to us, the gift of your son Jesus. Written by: Shelly Dority
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