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Dec 18, 2022 06:00am

The Perfect Gift

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We’re all frantically searching for it, especially during the Christmas season, but rarely find it — the perfect gift for that special “someone special” in our life. We even brave those Black Friday crowds the day after Thanksgiving (or, if that fails, wear our fingers out shopping everywhere online) trying to find something our shrinking (thanks to the current economy) wallets can afford. Of course, we’re willing to stretch the budget as much as possible for that illusive “perfect gift,” but we still have to eat!

I suppose the question we really need to ask ourselves is “what is the ‘perfect’ gift?” The criteria would have to include: something only we could give, something that really is a sacrifice for us to give, something they need every day, something they will keep forever and something that will make them think of us and feel our love. Try feeding that into Google and watch your computer blow up!

Of course, there really is no perfect gift we can give. Even the best gift will become obsolete or tossed aside as the years go by. But don’t let that discourage you. Every gift, however imperfect, shows your love for another person.

So don’t be discouraged that you can’t give the perfect Christmas gift, be encouraged that you can receive the perfect one: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).
That perfect gift came from God in the form of the Christ child, born in a lowly stable in Bethlehem so many years ago — a child who would grow up and complete the gift by dying on a cross and bringing us salvation.

This gift meets every criteria for the perfect gift:
• The gift of salvation was one only He could give. Even one small sin could keep us out of God’s perfect Heaven, but Jesus took all our sins, great and small, to the cross with Him. He was the only perfect one, and He paid the ultimate price for our gift. All we have to do is believe in Him and accept His perfect gift.
• The gift of salvation was a sacrifice for Him to give. Jesus’ life didn’t begin inside the virgin Mary, it just took on a new form there. He existed before time began and had all the riches of a perfect Heaven at His disposal. Yet He chose to leave it all behind and bear the sins of the world on a cruel cross, separated from His beloved Father for a time, in order to bring us the perfect gift.
• The gift of salvation is something we need every day. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, He walks with us every day and we can talk to the Father any time we need to about anything — nothing is too big or too little to bring to Him.
• The gift of salvation is something we will keep forever. Of course we will sin after we accept His perfect gift, but that doesn’t mean the gift isn’t ours. He certainly won’t snatch the gift from us if we step out of line. There are so many verses in the Bible testifying to the fact that the gift of salvation is ours to keep. One of my favorite passages is John 10:28-29: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

When Christians sin, it breaks our fellowship with God and we must ask His forgiveness in order to restore that fellowship, but no sin can break our relationship with Him. It is like my child — I gave birth to him and I am his mother. He may do something to break my heart, but that heart will always be the heart of his mother and he will always be my child. Nothing can break that relationship.

God’s perfect gift of salvation, through Jesus Christ, is mine the moment I accept Him as my Savior. It is a gift I can keep forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is a gift that will always make me think of Him and feel His love. Nobody knows me better than He does, yet He loves me anyway. I’ve never understood that because I know me, and if I were Him, I wouldn’t have a thing to do with me. But God (my two favorite words in the Bible) loves me just like I am — the key is that He loves me too much to let me stay that way!

“But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8). “I have loved you with an everlasting love…” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Thank you, Jesus, for loving me and giving me the perfect gift of salvation — for Christmas and for every day of my life. As unworthy as I am, I give you all I have to give — a heart that loves you and all that I am or ever will be.
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Jesus!