The Perfect Gift

The Perfect Gift

The perfect gift: Some of you will spend many hours this Christmas season searching for the perfect gift. You will browse through store after store or web site after web site. If you are the giver you want it to be just right. Based on what the person you are giving the gift to needs, you want it to be, perfect.

Maybe you have received the perfect gift. You have that memory of the time when someone surprised you with a gift you will never forget. As a child it may have been a toy that you just thought you had to have.

I dug around and found a couple of Christmas pictures from my past. It’s funny how the perfect gifts haven’t changed after all these years. I still like guns and guitars. Now you know how it all started.

TOP TEN GIFTS YOUR WIVES DON’T WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

10. A car wash kit.

9. A table saw.

8. Two all-day passes to Best Buy’s Home Theatre Installation Seminar.

7. A case of oil.

6. Five-year subscription to Sports Illustrated.

5. Tickets to the WWF “New Year’s Slamfest.”

4. New outboard motor for fishing boat.

3. Rambo Trilogy on DVD.

2. New satellite dish with sports package.

1. Three-year membership to Weight-Watchers Clinic.

TOP TEN GIFTS YOUR HUSBANDS DON’T WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

10. Anne of Green Gables Collectors Edition DVD with 74 minutes of extra footage.

9. Any knick-knack.

8. Tickets to the ballet.

7. Another new tie.

6. A Bath and Body Works Soap Basket.

5. New teddy bear pajamas.

4. Vacuum cleaner.

3. A weekend seminar on "Getting in Touch With Your Feelings."

2. Pair of fuzzy bunny slippers.

1. A nose and ear hair trimmer.

Here’s how it is supposed to work on a perfect Christmas morning. You get up on Christmas morning and you find packages underneath a tree. They are wrapped in colorful paper with ribbons and bows. A minor distraction when it comes time to open the gift. Up until that moment they are a mystery. You may shake them and listen closely to detect some telling sound that would give away the secret.

Gifts are meant to be opened. They are not a gift until received. If this Christmas you leave a package wrapped and unopened it will be useless. It could be the book you wanted to read but unless you open it, it will go unread. It could be the movie you wanted to watch but unless you open it, it will go unwatched. It could be the sweater you wanted to wear but unless you open it, it will go unworn. It could be the keys to the car you wanted to drive but unless you open it, it will never be driven.

Who ever leaves a gift unopened? Who ignores the special package with their name on it? Who has that kind of will power or who cares so little for gifts that they ignore the perfect gift that is for them?

I think I know just who it is. I think that millions of people leave the Perfect Gift unopened year after year. They ignore it; they act like it doesn’t exist. They may even use this gift in conversation but in reality they pay little attention to it.

The Bible says,

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father. . .” James 1:17

There is one Perfect Gift. He was born a long time ago in a little sleepy town by the name of Bethlehem. This Perfect Gift was predicted to come thousands of years before He arrived. Since His arrival this Gift has been opened by millions of people yet still remains unopened by millions more. Have you opened the Perfect Gift?

The Perfect Gift is Jesus. There is no sense in trying to be clever about it. I typed in the name Jesus on Amazon just to see how He was doing in the gift category. Here’s what I found.

Books (29,576)

Home & Garden (1,977)

Jewelry, Loose Diamonds, and Watches (964)

Apparel (684)

Tools & Hardware (319)

Automotive (239)

Health & Personal Care (Beta) (209)

Sports & Outdoors (125)

Toys & Games (28)

Musical Instruments (Beta) (10)

Free Music Downloads (69)

When I was a kid and even occasionally in recent years I tried to get hints as to what was in the gift that had my name on them. Nobody has ever played my little hints game in the past. It always has to be a big secret. Today I am going to give you some hints about the Perfect Gift. You see the time to open it is past. It is one lonely package left under the tree. It has your name on it.