GIFT OF GOD

For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Romans 6:23

My sister Kay and I had been hearing from our grandmother for several weeks before Christmas, a tradition from the “old country”. She said that in that country, if children had been bad, they found only a small bunch of switches or twigs under the Christmas tree on that special day. Kay and I pretty much didn't pay attention to the story as it didn't seem to apply to us. I was about to be six at the time and Kay was around four.

On that particular Christmas day, we rose with great anticipation. Standing in the dining room where our “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree standing with lights blinking and where our parents and grandmother stood against a wall. It was obvious as we approached the tree that there were NO presents to be seen. Kay and I stood, holding hands, looking stunned. However, under the tree were two small bunches of twigs wrapped around the center of the bunches with red paper and a bow.

I recall without a word from us, we picked up our sticks and took them to our table and chairs set that sat near the tree. We sat down, opened our twigs and began sorting them out much as we had done with our Lincoln Logs. There were no tears or questions on our part...only silence and the sound of breaking twigs.

My dad suddenly, with a few choice words, not meant to be heard on Christmas day or any other day, announced that the whole thing had gone too far. He left the room and returned with as many presents as he could hold. His last trip produced two shiny tricycles. I can't recall anything being said about that day ever. No one apologized for the stunt nor did we sisters ever bring it up. I must say that we were a little leery when the next Christmas came around. Presents had been purchased, but not presented at the appropriate time. As I recall, the gifts were really good, much of what we had asked for. There was just some special that was no longer there.

God has given us the greatest gift ever. We have the gift of eternal life because of the gift of His Son, despite our sinful state. It's also a gift God doesn't play with. It's ours for the asking and our Father never takes it back. It's for eternity and aren't we glad about that. His Gift far excels anything man can come up with. How can we not praise God for His excellent gift that we won't become bored with, wear out or break. Because of Jesus...every day is Christmas and every day a gift.

Father God, we praise You for Your love and care of us. You never tease us or play with our feelings. You are real with us in every way and we can't thank You enough for Your unspeakable Gift. Thank You Jesus, for being our Savior and Friend....Amen