Grace 1

John 1:14

Sometimes when we give gifts at Christmas they serve as hints or indications as to what else may be expected. If, for example, we plan to give an electronic device as an important present, we might first have our children open a pack of batteries. In that way they have an indication of what is coming. They can anticipate a greater gift.

The gift of the baby Jesus was not the only gift we have received from God. It was the beginning, or indication of all the good blessings God has in store for us.

In today’s passage John sums up the very essence of the Christmas celebration. Who is “the Word?” What did the presence of Jesus show us? What did Jesus bring?

Although Christmas has become a hectic time of shopping and spending, a time where we get caught up in the music and the stores and all the events that make up the holidays, at its heart it is the celebration of the gift of Jesus. Jesus was “the Word” of God, the expression of God’s love. God’s love became flesh. Jesus – God – became a human being so that we might see the indication of what was coming.

In the appearing of Jesus, God in flesh, we were able to see the grace and glory of our heavenly Father. Through Jesus we can see how much God loves us and how much God cares for us.

This is the celebration of Christmas. We not only honor the gift of the baby, we celebrate the love that God has for us and how God has shown us that love.

The gift of Jesus was a gift of grace from God. It was an undeserved expression of compassion and forgiveness, from God to us. Let us not allow the superficial celebrations of the holidays overshadow what is at the heart of the season.

As we go through the Christmas pageants, as we attend the Christmas parties, as we work through our gift-giving and our times together as friends and family, may we keep our hearts and souls focused on the most precious gift of all. May we clearly see that Christmas is a time when we join with the shepherds and the wise men and worship, truly worship, the Lord.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you be certain to worship God this Christmas?

Receive 4

John 1:14

At our previous church they told the story on several occasions about a man who was home one evening when birds began flying into the reflection of the sky on his plate glass window. Bird after bird flew into the glass and smacked against the hard surface. The man tried to shoo the birds away, to warn them, but they kept flying into the window.

Desperate to help the birds and tired from waving his arms, the man finally thought that if he could become a bird he would warn the others about the window. And it was in thinking this that he saw the meaning of the birth of Jesus.

Jesus was a gift from God to all of humanity, a gift of God in flesh. Jesus became one of us. He became a person so that we might be able to understand who God really is. Christ became a person so that he might have an intimate and personal relationship with each of us.

It was through the birth, life and death of Jesus that we get to know who God is. We can see His mercy and His love through the teaching and action of Jesus. Through the example of Jesus we are shown the glory of God, the Father. Through God, the Son, we can know better our heavenly Father.

That is the purpose and point of Christmas – God giving Himself to us so that we might know God better and more closely. The point of Jesus is that we see more clearly who our God is.

Knowing this should bring us joy. Knowing that God loves us so much that He wanted to live among us should fill our hearts with a warm elation, not just over the holidays, but every day of our lives.

Receive the gift of Christ. Let the joy of God’s precious gift, the example of His glory, grace and truth fill your heart this Christmas.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can Christmas become more personal to you this year?