We are getting closer to Christmas! If you know me very well, you know that I truly believe this is the most wonderful time of the year! If anybody should be making a big deal out of Christmas, it is born again Christians! This special season should mean something more to us than buying gifts and wearing ugly sweaters.
The thing that has been on my heart lately more than anything is sharing the gift of Jesus this year. At church we have been talking about our “Second Chance Sunday” coming up on January 3. We are going to start off 2016 the right way-with God at church, and we are going to invite others to do the same thing.
It is always difficult to find the right gift for those that you love most. I have purchased a few unfortunate gifts for my wife over the years. They came from a good heart, but it just didn’t work out. I remember one year in college as I was up late one night studying for an exam, an infomercial came on TV. for a new product called the “lumi-tweeze.” It was a set of tweezers with a built in magnifying glass and flash light. I don’t know if it was just my lack of sleep or if I was really that dense, but this seemed like the greatest gift idea I’d ever seen! I called and ordered it immediately because if I called right then I’d get it for half off :) My lovely wife didn’t share my joy when she opened a box of tweezers Christmas morning that had a blinding LED light on them. Oops! My bad!
Another year I thought it would be nice to order her a set of cooking ware. I got a great deal out of a catalog for $29.99! When they arrived, each pan was tiny! It looked like they were made for Polly Pocket. I’ve got to say, that it was a long silent ride to the UPS store to return them.
I won’t mention the Snuggie or Shamwow because I think you get the point…
This year we of course want to be generous to our families and buy them nice presents, but overall there is a gift we can give to those we care about that can’t be bought in stores. It’s the gift of hope. It’s the gift of Jesus. A new iPod won’t heal the hurt of divorce. A new tablet won’t heal the pain of losing a loved one. An X-Box won’t get anybody saved. This all sounds cliché so please don’t lose sight of what I am saying! You have an obligation and a calling to share the gospel. One of the last things Jesus said on this world was,“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16 NLT
Don’t miss out on the chance to really change somebody’s life; to give them the hope and the assurance of heaven. Don’t just assume that somebody else will do the Lord’s work. Step up and do it yourself. I can tell you this from experience too, that when you let God use you to change somebody’s life, there is no greater feeling in the world.
I want to close this brief writing with the most familiar verse in the Bible; John 3:16 KJV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
True love gives. Let’s follow the example of our Lord this year and do the same!