Everyone loves gifts, and Christmas is a really big time for gift-giving. I enjoy giving things that I know the recipient will love, but the recipient doesn’t always appreciate the gift I have chosen as much as I had anticipated. Sometimes, I am disappointed to learn that they already have the gift I chose. Other times, I just get it wrong and find that I really didn’t know their wishes as much as I thought. There have even been times when the recipient has declined from accepting my gift.
God is a great gift-giver, and the very best gift that He has ever given is His Son. “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” (John 3:16).
You see, God is holy, and He created us in his own image. We were created to bring Him glory, but we messed up when we disobeyed Him. Our sin sentenced us to eternal separation from God. The wages of sin is death. So, God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That’s what Jesus did for us.
There is no one excluded from His gift. All we have to do is realize our need for God, recognize our need to get rid of our sin and accept His gift. By accepting His gift, we commit to following His ways.
Sadly, not everyone will choose to accept. Some don’t think they need it. Others don’t think that God could ever forgive them. And some just don’t know that the gift is available to them.
Absolutely everyone needs this gift because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). And even though none of us deserve this gift, God wants each of us to have it no matter how horrible of an act we have committed.
Our souls can never be at peace until we make things right with God. If you desire this gift but don’t know how to accept it, let me know. I’d be happy to explain more. I want you to experience the indescribable strength, love, joy, peace and hope that is found in Jesus. So does He.
Have you accepted His gift? If not, I urge you to do it before it is too late.