Last week my article was about our choices.  I’d like to expand on that a bit today.  Being this is the Christmas season, it’s only fitting to talk about what everyone else is talking about: shopping and gift giving and receiving, right?  So let’s do that.

Everyone says “the reason for the season is Jesus”, well, IS IT?  Or is it about what we will “get for Christmas”?  This time of the year is the busiest time for retailers, and they look forward to it because business will be thriving as people are out buying gifts to give to others.  Others dread Christmas because they are having to buy gifts on borrowed money, that is, credit cards, and they’re probably still paying for last year’s presents this year.  But what if you could RECEIVE or GIVE a gift that has already been paid for by someone else?  Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Imagine this; if you have a Christmas tree, and there’s a pile of gifts under it, most likely each gift has someone’s name on it.  Some may be for you, some for another.  In order for that to happen, SOMEONE had to purchase that gift at their own expense. They had to think about what would suit that person for whom they bought or made the present.  Now, if you’re like me, you’ve also received your fair share of gifts you’d as soon pass along to someone else, or deposit in the nearest trash can, such as a green and red turtle neck sweater with little snowballs sewn on that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing in public.  Now the giver MEANT well, and you know that, but it isn’t something YOU would have picked out, let alone use.  But there IS the perfect gift that you wouldn’t ever want to turn loose of.

Christ Jesus paid the price for ALL our sins and ALL our diseases, it’s His FREE gift to mankind at large, that means ANYONE CAN RECEIVE HIS GIFT, no matter where they are, what their race is, no matter what their economical circumstances are or their political affiliation.  It’s FREE!  That means you can’t earn it, you can’t buy it, and you don’t go into debt in order to receive it!  You’ve undoubtedly heard all this a thousand times, but have you REALLY paid attention?  I’ve never seen anyone taking that gift back and saying they didn’t want it after receiving it.  How do you “give” the gift that keeps on giving?  Well, you have to tell the person about it, then let them choose to receive His gift.  You cannot make someone choose Jesus as LORD and Savior, you can only tell them how wonderful He has been to you, so that they will crave that gift for themselves.

There’s never the worry about His gift being the wrong size: “Extra Large Supersize, Exceedingly Abundantly Above All You Could Ask Or Think” is the only size available.  It fits all, and is sure to please.  It goes where YOU go, so there’s never a worry about “where am I going to put it?”  You may not need the particular kind of blessings I need.  No worry, your gift is personally tailored to fit your needs perfectly, and it doesn’t need BATTERIES!  It seems there are so many do-dads out there which continually need batteries, and so the cost of using it never goes away.  But this is FREE, meaning there is no up-front cost for you, no maintenance costs for you, ever.  FREE.  It has an everlasting warranty, though it will NEVER need repair or replacement.  The total and complete cost has been borne by Christ Jesus Himself.  Free. Remember that…..

Now if you happen to be shopping for your OWN gift this year, this is the one for YOU!  You will NEVER wish to “return it”, and even after 50 or more years, it will still thrill you to your core, you will never grow tired of God’s love and tender mercies.  In fact, if you’re like me, you’ll want EVERYONE to receive His free gift!  That gift, of course, is SALVATION!  That is the gift that keeps on giving, day after day, month after month, year after year.   Yeah, I know, you’ve heard it all before.  But unless you have EXPERIENCED His free gift for yourself, you cannot possibly know the exceeding joy of HAVING it.  Because once you have experienced Salvation for yourself, you will want to SHARE how to get that gift with everyone you meet.  So this year, get the ULTIMATE gift for yourself, and share with others how THEY may also have the ultimate gift of Christ Jesus.  Now, doesn’t that make your shopping list easier to fill?  Stop struggling to top last year’s gift that you gave someone. Give the ULTIMATE gift: lead them to Jesus!