The Ultimate Gift

2. Opening the Gift

I remember the moment we received Olivia Grace. We were at the hospital, and Bonnie was blessed to have witnessed the birth. Of course, I was reduced to hanging out in the waiting room, with all the other expectant families. Sometime went by before we had any news, and so we began to worry about things. Finally, Bonnie came out to visit, crying and smiling, and smiling and crying, and I was like ... ok ... what about the baby. Well, I did find out the baby and I was told I could go visit. They only allowed one visitor at a time. So, I went out to the recovery area, and I saw Olivia being checked out by the nurse. Knowing that we were there to adopt Olivia, and that I was her father, the nurse said to me, "dad would you like to hold your baby daughter. I received Olivia in my arms, and that is when my heart really pounded (the joy, the excitement, and all of the emotions of the occasion.) It was at that moment that I got to experience the gift I was receiving.

Opening the gift is the moment you get to "experience the gift." You get to find out what this gift is all about. When you open Christmas presents you spend the next day and a half finding out what the gift does. It took sometime before people knew exactly what Jesus was about, but he did leave some clues. In John’s gospel we read, (chap. 15:1) "I [Jesus] am the true vine and my father is the gardener ... (v. 5) I am the vine; you are the branches ... (v. 15) I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know my Father’s business. Instead I have called you friends." Jesus offered himself as a means of connecting with our heavenly father, maker of heaven and earth and the sustainer of all life.

Only a chapter before Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me" (14:6). That is the gift that I am receiving and I have now opened. I am now able to experience the gift for myself if I chose. The gift is now received and opened, now what do I do with it.

3. Sharing the Gift

When I was younger, it took me sometime to want to share my things with my sister. I really didn’t like doing it. You know, really, today I still feel like that sometimes. However, the gift that Jesus is is not that kind of gift. It is a gift the really needs to be shared.

Near the beginning of his book, John says, "for God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." In this verse, how do you think someone becomes a "whoever?" They find out when someone like you shares the gift of Jesus. A really good gift, like what Jesus is, deserves being shared with others. People cannot have a relationship with God, unless we show them Jesus.

How then can we share Jesus to those around us? At this time of the year it is easy, because we actually have an excuse and a reason to do it.

Baking, Christmas Cards, invite them to the Christmas Eve special. But don’t forget to tell them why you are doing it. Tell them that you received a wonderful gift in Jesus, and you want to share it with them.