MERRY CHRISTMAS!     Jesus is the reason for the season.  He gave in order to save.    

I love Christmas.  I love Christmas.  I love the decorations and all the lights and I love giving gifts.  I think most people love this time of year.  When we are young we probably like it because of all the gifts we get, but as we grow older we learn and realize what fun it is to give gifts.

I was making Christmas cards with two of my granddaughters a couple of weeks ago and what fun it was.  I especially enjoyed the excitement in their voices when talking of “all” those they wanted to make cards for.  It made me smile.  We should never lose that “youngness” of heart when it comes to giving.  We should always be excited and joyful about giving to others.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver.  I think it’s because a cheerful heart reflects God’s heart of giving.  He so loved the world that He sent Jesus to save us from our sins (John 3:16).  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord, Thank you Jesus!  God is good!  What we couldn’t do for ourselves He did for us through Jesus.

Though Jesus came as a babe, born of a virgin; He grew up to take away the sins of the world (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6).  He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14).

JESUS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER!  That’s because He lives forever, King and Lord.

With this gift of love from God – His Son Jesus – we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing IN HIM.  The first chapter of Ephesians tells us what we have IN HIM: redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, wisdom made abound to us (abound means to be plentiful and fully supplied), and an inheritance.  When we confess and receive Jesus as Savior, all that God gave to Him comes to us; we become joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).  And since Jesus is a living gift, He still is giving to us today.   Now that’s what I call a great gift!

So go ahead and buy the gifts and give them in the love of Jesus.  (Just stay within your budget so you can really enjoy the giving and not have to live with the aftermath of buyer’s remorse with long months of paying for them, which diminishes the joy of giving).   Give them because you want to celebrate HIM; and since we are celebrating – HIS LOVE AND HIS GIVING TO US – make sure that some of those gifts are resources that will help the receiver draw near to the Him; for truly – JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!  

Have a very wonderfully blessed, fun, healthy, prosperous, and joyous Christmas.