Opening Gifts

Today is Christmas Day! Hallelujah! It is a wonderful day of celebration and great joy!

I’ve been thinking today about gifts, wrapped and opened. (Well, technically I was thinking about it yesterday when I wrote this and scheduled it to post).

Sometimes a gift is difficult to open because the person who wrapped it used a ton of strong tape and sturdy wrapping paper, with ribbons strung around every possible direction. You know the kind – you wonder if the person who gave it to you really wanted you to see what was inside.

Sometimes a gift is easy to open, placed gently in a gift bag that is open on the top. This is the easiest way to wrap a gift, especially if it is an odd shape, or if it is a collection of things.

Sometimes it is easy to determine what a gift is based on its size and shape, or how it sounds when you shake it; especially if it appears to be something you asked for. Other times it is impossible to determine what a gift is from the outside because it has been so cleverly disguised by the giver.

Once a gift is opened, we are either delighted to have received it because it is just what we wanted or wonder if the giver really knew us at all. Some gifts are practical and are put to immediate use. Other gifts are merely decorative and end up sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Still others are meant to be useful but don’t adequately serve the purpose for which they were created or given, and they end up in a box in the attic or the garage.

But there is one gift that is always easy to open. Even if we don’t know we wanted or needed it, once we truly open it up and use it, it will serve the purpose for which it was given. But if we think it is merely decorative and keep it on a shelf, it will only collect dust.

This perfect gift is the love and grace of Jesus! It is the greatest gift mankind has ever received. But so many never open the gift because they think it is too hard to open. Others open the gift, but they don’t make regular use of it and so it has no impact on their lives. Yet there are many who have humbly accepted this gift, opened it, rejoiced at having received it, and put it to use each and every day. These people are blessed beyond measure, even when life presents its greatest challenges.

Has someone offered you the gift of Jesus Christ? Have you put Him to good use in your life? Of all the gifts you will receive this Christmas, He is the most important. Don’t leave Him unopened and unused. He is what Christmas is all about.

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 (KJV).