It is so easy to get wrapped up in all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Each of us can think of that one person who it’s nearly impossible to buy a gift for. The purpose of our gift is supposed to be a tangible display of affection to let that person know they hold a place of importance in our life. So, why is it sometimes so difficult to find the right present to display our intended message?
Could it be that we are thinking of sending the wrong message in the first place?
Just recently, a good friend of mine asked me to pray for him as he was struggling to view himself in a favorable light. He understood that he has value, but there was a disconnect somehow preventing him from actually feeling he has worth.
In my attempt to share with Him a view that may help, he inadvertently gave me a time to reflect and meditate on maybe the most important message in all of Christianity.
After thought and consideration I replied to him with this. Please allow some grace, I don’t always text very well:
”Everything in life is worth what the purchaser is willing to pay for it!
-Publilius Syrus
When I hit a stage of questioning just who I really am in Christ I asked questions very similar to what you asked me to pray for on your behalf.
I know my past and the choices I’ve made. When I study God’s word I realize how wretched and detestable I must seem in my sins to someone like Christ.
The idea of “sins being washed clean” really stuck with me though. I realized that like dirt, grime, and filth the sins themselves may be stuck to me, but they are not a part of who I am. What Jesus did when he washed them away from me, was he left behind only the man God built me to be. Purified, and ready to be forged into a masterpiece. Just like removing layers of rust from an antique to reveal the precious metal underneath.
It is because we are so horrible in our sins that we get to truly realize the full measure of how valuable we are to Him. Our Creator, the perfect master of creation itself and everything within it should have discarded me, left and forgotten me… it’s what I deserve.
But Instead He pursues me my entire life. He waits for me to realize that He literally gave his last breath to be able to separate me from the sin that separates me from Him.
The final step, is he stands there arms open the whole time waiting for me to run back to Him so I can be held by a Father who loves me more than anyone with a human heart ever could.
I hope next time you look in the mirror, you see Jesus in you, not a man hoping he’s worth enough to even be noticed by his Abba. I hope you see the precious antique that was painfully purchased and restored so it could be beautiful again.”
Awesome thought huh? God DIED, just so He could give us the choice to decide if we want to be held by Him or not.
Even better, he could’ve just showed up and then died as an infant to complete the process. Instead he decided to live out a full lifetime here on earth as an example, as a teacher, as an inspiration that we may have more than just the hope of heaven. Instead, that we would be able to live a full abundant life here, and get to be assured of our future in heaven. There is nothing left for him to give, the most complete and perfect gift that was ever given.
Christmas celebrates the day He arrived here on earth to initiate, and later complete, such an amazing plan.
The best Christmas gift ever, is the story of Christmas itself.
This year, instead of asking what someone you love may want for Christmas… ask instead, “how can I best love the person the way Christ loves me?”
