Undeserved Gift
Have you ever received a Christmas gift from a person for whom you have no gift to give? The joy of receiving the gift is overshadowed by the feeling of guilt for not being able to reciprocate the gift.
A gift is actually something that is given without expecting anything in return. When the recipient wants to give something in return, what they are actually doing is canceling the gift, effectively converting it into an exchange.
What if you receive a gift from a person you have offended? That would be a surprise! How is it possible that someone whom I treat wrongly gives me a gift? This falls outside of our understanding. Christmas is just that: an undeserved gift.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
We know that Christmas is the gift of Jesus’ birth to the world. But we easily lose perspective that the Son of God came into the world for the sole purpose of dying in our place. This sacrifice was the payment of the price necessary to reconcile us with God and give us an opportunity for eternal life.
The gift of Jesus’ birth (along with his death and resurrection) puts us in the place of the person who receives a gift from someone we constantly offend: God with our past, present, and future sins. There is nothing we can offer in return.
How can we respond to such a gift? Our repentance must lead us to something greater.
Celebrate this day with a renewed commitment to live a life of gratitude to the one who impressed us with his undeserved gift!
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