The Greatest Gift

Receiving a gift is like getting a rare gemstone; any way you look at it, you see beauty refracted. Proverbs 17:8 (The Message)

Christmas has become a huge gift-giving holiday. In some ways, shopping and buying gifts for Christmas has taken center stage ahead of the true reason for the season. We pore over the advertisements in the newspaper and plot out our route for the sales on Black Friday. Or we spend hours online checking for the best prices on Amazon and "googling" for the latest and greatest new toy. 

Exchanging Christmas presents is a wonderful tradition that gives us an opportunity to show others we care for them. Some say the tradition helps remind us of the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the Three Wise Men: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And others suggest the tradition arises from winter celebrations of the Pagans.

No matter the origin of the gift-giving tradition, it's important that we do not let it take over. What if we spent just as much time reflecting on the greatest gift we ever received: the baby Jesus. Christmas gives us the opportunity to consider the beginning of Jesus' ministry on earth. And to thank God for sending Jesus as an infant to show us the way. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, We thank you for sending your son Jesus as a baby and for the chance to reflect on that gift during the Christmas season. The gift of that rare gemstone is the greatest gift we have ever received. Help us to appreciate the true meaning of that gift. Amen. 

Robin Hadfield (reprinted from the Eastridge Advent Devotional, 2016)