By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to
himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:3
What is the greatest gift that you have ever received? I want you to stop and think about that for a minute. During this busy season coming up we almost get obsessed with gifts. Typically, for children the obsession is getting the gifts and for the adults it’s finding that perfect gift for our friends and family that won’t break the bank. An entire sub-holiday has even been created around this phenomenon called Black Friday. Retailers put it all out there in hopes that we’ll also put all our money out there in their cash registers and bank accounts.
But back to my first question, what is the greatest gift that you have ever received? As I thought about that question, I began to ponder whether or not the greatest gift I’ve ever received is even tangible. Sure, there was nothing like that baby doll I had always wanted that I got for Christmas when I was young, but is that the greatest gift? Certainly not!
Truly, the greatest gifts I’ve ever received can’t be bought. Gifts like peace when everything around me seemed to be falling apart. At a time in my life when the future was more uncertain than ever an overwhelming sense of peace was the greatest gift. What about healing? To anyone who has ever suffered from a debilitating illness or been diagnosed with cancer surely healing would be the greatest gift they have ever received. Then there is love. I can’t help but think of all my friends who have poured love into the life of a child they have adopted. A child who wouldn’t have felt the warm embrace of a family and a mother’s arms securely wrapped around them. To a criminal awaiting punishment I would imagine that forgiveness and freedom would be the greatest gift they could ever think of receiving. There would be little that could compare to the guilty being exonerated and mercifully pardoned, given a clean slate to start again with a new record.
At some time in my life I have been given all of these gifts; peace, healing, love, forgiveness, freedom and more. At that time, it was the greatest gift anyone could give me. The only Person who could provide the gift I needed most was my Heavenly Father. Friends, God is obsessed with giving us all of these gifts and more. In fact, He already did beyond what we could imagine by wrapping up His love, peace, light, life, forgiveness, grace, healing, and freedom all in One big gift, the One and Only person of Jesus Christ–secured not with hidden tape or pretty ribbons, but with nails and a crown of thorns for a bow. He gave all He had–His very life so that you and I could find true life in Him. He put all He had out there on the cross on a different Friday, a very Good Friday, so that we could lay all the hurts, sorrows, sickness and sins in our lives on Jesus. It’s a spiritual phenomenon, Jesus takes our sins and gives us His perfect righteousness. He takes our punishment like a criminal and we go free. He takes our sickness and makes us well. He takes our chaos and gives us His perfect peace. And He wraps us all up in His everlasting arms of love.
Maybe you are in need of one of these gifts – whether it’s hope for a dark place, peace in a storm, grace for a relationship, whatever your need – Jesus offers you these gifts in Himself simply by asking.
God has already given us the greatest gift anyone could ask for in Christ.
He is the gift that keeps on giving and we don’t even have to wait until Christmas to open it. If you have never opened this perfect gift that God has given to you, I hope that as you consider all the gifts you will give and receive this season you will consider opening your heart to Jesus – the greatest gift of all.