In The Bible We Read This: "Let Us Thank God For ...

In the Bible we read this: “Let us thank God for his priceless gift” (2 Cor 9:15).

Imagine for a moment being invited to a really special birthday party. Perhaps it’s your Head teacher’s birthday, but we won’t ask him how many years he will be celebrating for his next birthday, will we! Or perhaps imagine being invited to the Queen’s birthday party – someone even more special than your Head teacher! We’re all invited and we’re all excited. We head off to the palace and the time comes for us to present our gifts to the Queen because it is her birthday; but instead of giving gifts to the Queen we all start giving gifts to each other instead!

That would be really strange wouldn’t it, and maybe even a bit rude, and in some ways a bit funny. It’s the Queen’s birthday party and she doesn’t get any gifts. We just give gifts to each other!

Christmas can be a bit like that. It’s Jesus’ birthday party. I love giving and receiving gifts to remember the priceless gift of Jesus for me and the whole world, but do we give a gift to him on his birthday?

As a Christian I aim to give myself to Jesus as a gift of thanks to him. I aim to give my life to him, asking him to help me live as he wants me to live, because I am thankful that God has given me Jesus - a priceless gift.

How about each one of us this Christmas? (Many thanks to J. John for this excellent illustration) As we exchange gifts and as we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, will we give ourselves to Jesus as a gift of thanks?