“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life." John 3:16
I worked for awhile in a department store, in a large mall in Atlanta during Christmas time - the huge crowds in the store and parking lots did not convey the Christmas spirit. I remember a Christmas a few years ago when I learned what Christmas 'gifting' was all about.
I had six children in my house at the time, all girls, 11-15 years old. On this Sunday morning before Christmas, getting ready was proving more difficult than usual. We had to be at church an hour before the first service at 9 a.m. so the children could get ready for the Christmas play. We were hurrying around, getting costumes together, fixing hair. When two of the girls were resistant (throwing tantrums), a couple were moving slow, and a couple didn't want to get out of bed, and I was at my wit's end after a week of homeschooling. I think we were all just tired of each other. We finally got out of the house and to church on time, where I was told I was not needed. I didn't know how to react because I was never without 'my girls'.
In a rare show of independence, I decided to go by myself for some coffee at the chicken place down the street. We rarely went out to eat, except once a month to 'Micky D's', or once a year, after I got my student loan refund, to a real restaurant. But here I was, middle of the month, middle of the semester going out by myself. I had about 30 minutes, sitting, sipping coffee, nothing to do, no place to be. Then it was time to go back to the churgh for the play. As I walked into the darkened sanctuary, one of the lead male singers began to sing, "...what a way to save the world..." . It's a song about how God used an ordinary man and woman for His purposes. Behind him on a screen were scenes from the movie 'Jesus of Nazareth'. It was real sweet, the singer had a nice tenor voice, the scenes were scenes we are accustomed to at Christmas - the nativity scene, Mary and the baby Jesus, close up of the Shepards. I was comforted and peaceful. As I witnessed these scenes, suddenly the movie cut to a grown Jesus on the cross, close ups of Mary, a mother watching her son die, crying as her heart literally was breaking. And then suddendly something let go in me, I felt a release of the stress I'd been under and cried out involuntarily. I realized how selfish I had been. I thought how I had dared to complain because of the children God had given me, when He had also given me His only Son, who then died for me and rose again - for me, because He so loved me. I could never repay Him - and I would never know how much it cost, to see my sins on that cross.
'For God so loved 'me' that He gave His only begotten Son...' This was the First Christmas Present...
