The Greatest Gift of All
For there is born to you this day in the city of
When you were a child, you probably looked forward to receiving Christmas gifts, just like children do today. And if you were like I was, you peeked underneath the wrapping paper well before Christmas just to find out what your parents were giving you. As you’ve grown older, you have probably found more joy in giving a gift than in receiving one. You’ve begun to understand what Jesus meant when He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
But this business of gift-giving can get very expensive. I remember one year when I said, “Let’s do the 12 days of Christmas. We’ll give a gift every day for 12 days.” Now we are back to the one day of Christmas. Someone has actually calculated what it would cost to give all the gifts mentioned in “The 12 Days of Christmas,” and it added up to $18,920. A partridge in a pear tree was relatively reasonable, only about $100. The biggest expense was nine ladies dancing. That would run in the neighborhood of $5,000.
We can get caught up in the excitement of it all, but the true message of Christmas is not the gifts that we give to one another, but it is the gift that God has given to us:
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
What a wonderful verse that is. It speaks of God’s gift of His only begotten Son. That gift was the greatest gift of all.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.