by Pastor Neville Doecke
What is the BEST Christmas gift?
Little ones nervously line up to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. School children openly tell parents what they want for Christmas after searching the internet. Adults of all ages dream of what would really make a wonderful Christmas for them. Yes, just check the internet, spend hours walking the shops and there is plenty of variety to help secure the “perfect gift” for the ones we love. There is plenty of advice about age-appropriateness, why this gift is so good, and at the right sale price now. But in twelve months’ time, does it still work, is it broken, has it lost its glamour? As the days before Christmas get less, getting the best gift to bring joy and happiness to someone creates a lot of stress.
But what is the reason for this season of “silliness”, mad rushing around to get everything organized for Christmas….for what? Is it ‘good family times’, a break from the daily grind of work routines, a holiday away from home?
Somewhere amongst the glitter and sales, the food and drink, the racing around, the real reason for the season of Christmas has faded away; that a very special baby arrived on earth in a little village called Bethlehem, the only son of God in heaven, placed in an animals’ feedbox of hay, his arrival announced to a group of tough shepherds looking after sheep. Why?
“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son Jesus, so that whoever believed in him, would not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. This was God’s gift of love to the world – the BEST Christmas gift that we all can receive, one that never fades, wears out or gets broken! God’s BEST gift of love is for you, and it lasts for all time.
