My grandfather will be spending Christmas with Jesus and his beautiful bride in heaven this year. This week my mom and her siblings are going through the items in their house. The grandchildren were asked if there was anything we especially wanted. The only thing I requested was the cast iron farm bell on the pole next to the garage. For me, that bell calls to mind everything I loved about my grandparents—their love and hospitality, grandma’s great cooking and grandpa’s contagious laugh…everything. I may not get it. I am sure that others in the family have their eye on it. But that’s okay because whether the bell is in my possession or not, I will always have what it calls to mind. It’s not so much the bell that’s important, but what it represents.
Is there something special you are hoping to receive this year for Christmas? What if you don’t get it? Is there something special you are hoping to give to your loved ones this Christmas? What if, for some reason, you are not able to give it?
Let me remind you why we give gifts at Christmas in the first place. On the first Christmas, God gave the most incredible gift the world has ever known. Unearned and undeserved, the gift of a Savior was given to live and die and bring forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and eternal life in heaven. God himself, wrapped in human flesh and placed in a manger is the whole reason we give gifts wrapped in paper and placed under the tree. They are gifts given in love and reflections of the greatest gift ever given.
I don’t know if I will get the bell. I don’t know if you’ll get the gift you’re hoping for this Christmas. I don’t know if you will be able to give the people you love all you want to give them. I do know no matter what gift you give or receive, it can call to mind the greatest gift ever given—peace with God through Jesus. The gift of a Savior is far more important than any earthly gift. On that first Christmas you were given it. The gift of a Savior is far more precious than any physical gift you can give, this Christmas you get to give it.
This year let’s not get wrapped up in the gifts, let’s get wrapped up in God’s incredible love.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
See previous devotions HERE.
