DECEMBER 8, 2003

A GIFT THAT SAYS “YOU’RE SPECIAL”

Some people just love Christmas shopping. And then there are us normal folk.

It’s not that we don’t care about those we are shopping for. Rather, we care too much! We want to get just the right thing.

Oh the stress, the frustration! We look and look. Nothing is worthy of the people we have in mind. We don’t want to have to settle for an average gift, a predictable gift. We want our gift to say “You’re special!”

And when we’ve found it? What a relief! We’re on top of the world. We can’t wait until Christmas morning. The whole season is a success because we’ve settled this shopping thing.

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What could God give his lost and empty people that first Christmas? Political freedom? Prosperity? Good health? They all sounded like gifts that would bring happiness. But God wanted to give his people more than a smile on Christmas morning. He wanted to give them a gift that would bring a new and lasting glow into their lives.

Imagine his joy when he envisioned his awesome gift—his own Son born as a human baby! Imagine his satisfaction when he wrapped his gift in that little body, and as the specially-chosen mother loved him into the world! Yes, he had found just the right gift, a gift that said to those he loved, “You’re special!”

No wonder we all feel so warm and new and whole at Christmas time. We have reminded ourselves of the gift that involved so much of God’s thought, creativity and love, and we feel really special.

–Pastor George Van Alstine