Don’t you love the day after Christmas? Fighting the crowds at the mall just to return an unwanted gift or two. And if you’ve ever waited in one of those endless lines where the customers are impatient and the clerks are too few and too new, you were quick to realize just how the day after Christmas stands in stark contrast to the presumed “spirit of the season.”
Personally, my nerves can’t take the chaos the “the day after” brings. But obviously it doesn’t bother some people. Maybe some of you wouldn’t mind being right out there in the middle of it all trying to exchange that sweater that doesn’t fit, that blouse that’s the wrong color, or maybe trying your best to get a refund on that beloved “chia pet.” And I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with that because after all, who wants to be stuck with something they don’t like or can’t use?
But what I want to discuss today is something much more serious and exceedingly more significant than anything that anyone has ever found under their tree Christmas morning. Today, we are going to try to rationalize why anyone would want to return the Perfect Gift.
I want to begin by telling you the story of three brothers. The youngest of these brothers was Kyle--he was six years old. The middle brother Ryan was seven, and the oldest; Randy, was nine. These three were truly an inseparable trio. They did everything together, and they even made a vow to always come to each other’s aid in any time of trouble--except of course when the trouble erupted between them--then they were on their own! But most every time you saw one of these little guys, you could be pretty sure that the other two weren’t far behind...
That is, except for one day when Kyle was playing in the fort that they had all built earlier that spring. His brothers were in the house watching TV but unfortunately Kyle was not alone. You see, it was terribly hot on that late July afternoon in New Mexico, and this little fort provided some very inviting shade for a “non member” of the club; a five foot long western diamondback rattlesnake. Kyle was looking for his favorite water gun, and as he raised the lid on their toy box, the startled snake struck him not once but twice just under his arm. After hearing Kyle’s screams from inside the house, Randy ran out to see what was wrong with his little brother. But as he made his way into the fort, he too was bitten by this venomous intruder. After precious minutes had elapsed, their father and Ryan got a little worried and also went out to see what all the commotion was about. They arrived only to discover Randy and Kyle lying motionless on the floor of the fort, at first they thought that they were just playing like they often times did, but dad came to realize that this was no joke when he caught a glimpse of the back half of the snake as he disappeared into the underbrush right next to the fort.
At the hospital the doctors tried frantically to save the little boys’ lives while mom, dad and Ryan waited helplessly in the waiting room. It seemed like days, but only an hour had passed when the doctor came to inform them of the boys’ condition. As gently and tenderly as he could, the doctor told them the bittersweet news; Randy--since he was much bigger than Kyle and was bitten only once-- had a good chance of making a full recovery....But Kyle’s condition was much more serious; because of the large amount of venom that was injected into his little system, much damage had been done---especially to his kidneys which were ninety percent destroyed. And considering the time that it would take to find a suitable donor, his chances of survival were slim to nonexistent.
Ryan watched from the arms of a kindly nurse as the doctor was talking to his parents. Suddenly he saw his mama fall to her knees crying hysterically. He broke away from the nurse and ran to his mother trying desperately to comfort her. And right there on that waiting room floor, the doctor-who also was a Christian, knelt with the remainder of this little family and he prayed that within this critical 48 hour period that someone would be able to give Kyle a kidney so that he might have a second chance at life.
Within twenty-four hours, the word was spread to every relative that they could think of but no suitable donor was found. The doctor, who had taken special interest in this case, consulted every organ bank and put Kyle on the highest priority list but still, no kidney could be located.
Exhausted and disappointed, mom, dad, and Ryan returned home. With only a few precious hours left the faithful family knelt together to plead once more with God. That night, as mom was getting Ryan ready for bed, he looked at her with tears in his eyes and said; “mama, we’ve decided to give Kyle one of my kidneys.”
With tears in her eyes, she hugged her little son and asked him; “you and who else has decided this?” He quickly replied; “me and God.”
Amazed at her son’s very mature answer, his mother told him once more that the doctors said that it would be very risky to perform such an operation on such a young child and since he was so young that if he ever had a problem with the one kidney he had left, that he would be in real trouble.
Ryan said, “I know what the doctors said, but I love Kyle and I made a promise that I would always be on his side and help him no matter what.”
He said; “please mama, let me keep this promise to my brother.”
With much prayer and discussion with the doctors, little Ryan did in fact keep his promise to his brother. And in a few weeks time, they were once again that same inseparable trio full of life and love for each other.
Well you say, what’s the point to this story? The point is that this gift of life that Ryan gave to his brother pales in comparison to the gift that our brother Jesus Christ offers to each one of us today. You see, not only did He create us, not only does He continue to orchestrate every beat of our hearts, every breath that we draw, but He offers us something more that no one else in this universe possibly could, and that is true peace and eternal life with him. That my friends is the Gift that keeps on giving.
Yet sadly, so many people don’t even know that this gift exists, much less, that it is addressed directly to them. They have not a clue that Someone loves them in such a way that they could not even begin to comprehend.
You see, we too as mankind have been bitten by that serpent of old, his venom is coursing through our veins even now. And, if left untreated, it will surely lead to eternal death, Romans 3:23 says; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and Romans 6:23 says; “the wages for sin is death,” but thankfully, this verse doesn’t end here but it goes on to say; “BUT the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I don’t really need to waste a lot of time explaining to you something that you obviously already know by heart and that is that Jesus Christ is that Gift that was sent from heaven to this earth to save us from certain death and destruction. In Isaiah 9:6 the prophet utters a prophecy of hope when he says; “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” You see, this Savior that Isaiah was talking about has indeed come. The Gift “has been delivered” at the exact time and in the exact way that was prophesied 700 years earlier.
Have YOU received this most precious gift? Have you opened it??
How often do you use it? These my friends are the questions that we need to address today.
When someone gives you a gift at Christmas, what do you do? Do you accept the gift with much appreciation and joyful enthusiasm only to put it in your closet and never even open it?? Of course not! But yet that’s exactly what a lot of people do with Jesus; they “accept Him” and then take Him home and put Him on a shelf, never venturing to open the gift. And why don’t they ever look inside?? Well, there are of course many different reasons that people are content in merely “possessing” the Gift and are not overly anxious to fully “unwrap” it. Through this story, allow me to give you a prime example of what I think is the main reason:
I thought I’d done a pretty good job shopping for my wife this Christmas. I bought her a beautiful picture to go on a wall in our house that has been totally naked ever since we lived there. Now this bugged me to no end and every time I tried to get her to hang something--anything on that wall, her answer was always the same, “not until I find the right picture.” To make a long story short, miraculously I did in fact get the right picture. But you know what? It didn’t end with just hanging the picture on the wall. That would have been too easy. Eventually, EVERYTHING in the room had to be moved to accommodate this picture. The couch had to be moved, the love seat had to be moved, the end table, the recliner, even the plants had to be moved; the whole room had to be rearranged around this “gift.” This gift inspired my wife to re-arrange our entire house.
In the same way that most husbands don’t like moving furniture, people naturally don’t want to have to rearrange their lives around Jesus. You see, by just accepting the gift and merely having it in their possession people feel like that’s enough-- they have the “best of both worlds”, they think that they have their salvation and at the same time they are not inconvenienced by having to change their lives around this Gift.
Let me tell you something that I don’t want you to ever forget; it is IMPOSSIBLE to accept Jesus Christ and NOT be CHANGED!!! Let’s look at John 3:1 and read what Jesus says is a “prerequisite” to entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
“ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he would have to be spiritually reborn. Paul makes the same point in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Again, the Gift will do you absolutely no good whatsoever unless you open it and allow it to initiate this new life. I’ve got some of you confused don’t I? How does one “open Jesus?” Well, maybe I could put it another way; open the door to let Jesus IN. Revelation 3:20 Jesus says; “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in....” You see, if we can only learn how to truly let Jesus into our lives, we would realize that WE don’t have to change our lives round this Gift, rather the Gift itself would change us!
Understand that Jesus Himself dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, and with the Spirit comes the fruit of the Spirit; Galatians 5:22 says; “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” You see what I mean? Jesus is truly the “Gift that keeps on giving.”
You know, especially around this time of the year, many of us think how blessed Mary was to know that she was actually carrying God’s child. Only if we could be blessed in such a way--what an honor that would be to have something to do with Jesus coming into the world!!
Well, I’ve got terrific news for all of you, Jesus is waiting for us to swing wide that door that He’s been knocking on for so long and let Him into our lives. Sure, the rooms of our houses are not in any way worthy of hosting such a divine guest but brothers and sisters, we will never be able to get our “spiritual houses” in order-certainly not sufficient enough to house the King of the universe. But that’s exactly why we desperately need to let Him in because only He can make the renovations necessary. “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
So, where do you stand in regard to this Gift that we’ve been talking about? You see, brothers and sisters, accepting Jesus is not as so many would like to believe -- a one-time thing. No! rather it is an all day -- everyday-- act of love and recommitment to our Lord and Savior!! Through DAILY prayer and seeking to know Him better everyday by reading His word we are being sanctified--that is we are being made holy ---bringing our relationship with Him to a higher and stronger level everyday!!!
If you are not experiencing a Daily walk with the Lord----if you don’t find yourself longing to know, really KNOW this God who gave of Himself for you, then you may have “accepted the gift,” but my friend, you have not opened it and “put it on.”
In closing, I want to repeat what I said earlier. We have all been bitten by that serpent of old, Satan, his poison is coursing through our very souls. If left untreated, we will surely die. Jesus has borne our iniquities, He has suffered and died so that He may offer us the “antivenom” that will give us life everlasting. In John 3:14,15 Jesus says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Dear brothers and sisters, you may have that “anti-venom” close by--you may even have it within easy reach. But if you don’t inject it into your very soul, if it does not flow through your veins and into your HEART, you are as good as dead.
Now, I hope that you don’t think that our message today is one of doom and discouragement---it definitely is far from that, for “God so loved the WORLD that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Please, make the decision today to accept Jesus into your life--not only on Sabbath (or Sunday) but every day and in every way, and He will give you something that no one else in this universe can; “The Perfect Gift of Peace” in this life and the assurance of eternal life.
**the illustration of the three brothers is fictional
