The Gift

You’d think that the evidence of His strength and attention to beauty and detail and goodness would have been apparent with a sky full of stars, cascading waterfalls, fields of sunflowers, and lands full of animals in endless varieties, but He went a few big steps beyond even that.  He decided to come in person, to visit us, and to show us what He was all about.  It wasn’t for state dinners (He preferred the company of those who had true curiosity, no matter what economical class they were in), or pampering (He was pressed and stretched more days than not).  Jesus came to display some of the love and power of His Father’s kingdom, what was important there, and offering all of it to any who would dare to take Him up on it.  He lifted the weary, healed the blind, lame, and lepers, put a few from the tomb back into the company of their families, and lit the flame in hearts that didn’t yet understand the significance of what was going on.  Then He bled, died, and rose to ensure that we wouldn’t miss the point of the power He holds. 

He places much in our hands…time, resources, gifts chosen specifically for us by Holy Spirit and invites us to come back to Him with them all, open handed, to discover what He had in mind when He distributed those magnificent ingredients.  We can’t do glorious work and bring what He intends from heaven to earth if we decide we can manage it adequately without His guidance. 

You may be wrapped up in all the trappings of the holiday, but He doesn’t care if your paper is a bit torn and your ribbons crushed in this hectic season.  Just come, and bring Him the Christmas gift of you.  Let Him open you up and decide what He will do with your precious life.  His plans are stunningly beautiful and not at all dependent on the condition we are in when we come to Him.  He is utterly gifted at taking something that most would consider far too damaged and revealing its true beauty and worth. 

Stop holding on.  Stop stepping from the Christmas rush right into the resolutions of the coming year marked with your own goals and see what He has for you, miracles all of them, as you walk it out learning how trustworthy and brilliant He is. 

You are the gift He wants most.