…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

I open the gift slowly…

“Wonder what this could be?” I ask.

I really don’t know…

I rip off the last shred of paper…

See the logo and know immediately what is in the box…

The hot new electronic gadget…

The gift I really wanted.

The gift I wasn’t expecting, because it cost so much…

My wife made a real sacrifice when she bought it for me.

Was I surprised?

Yes.

Happy with my new toy?

Of course, but…

Which was the greater gift?

The electronic toy?

Or the love and sacrifice with which it was bought?

“I couldn’t wait to see your face when you opened it,” my wife says.

“I knew for a long time what I was going to give you.”

“I smiled every time I thought about how happy you’d be.

In the years that have passed since my wife gave me that gift…

I’ve come to see a certain ritual in human gift giving…

Think about it…

The surprised recipient…

Without a hint of what he or she will find…

The sacrificial giver…

Knowing what lies inside the box…

Waiting with joy to see its impact.

Who created that pattern of gift giving?

Could it be God?

God, who has given us His grace…the greatest gift of all…

A free gift of God …

Who eagerly waits to rejoice with us as we accept it…

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.  Luke 15:7

 A gift bought at great sacrifice and pain…

They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.

Matthew 27:28-29

A gift given with the greatest love ever known…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16