I got to thinking about the Twelve Days of Christmas and I thought that what I want my true love to give to me is just what God gave us that first Christmas morning. He gave Himself so that we could experience the gift of Christmas all three hundred and sixty-five (or six) days a year for eternity.
It is definitely the gift that keeps on giving. If you have received this gift you know it is one we continually unwrap. There is always something new that God is revealing about Himself. He continues to give us more and more of a revelation of Him which will not be fully realized until He brings us into eternity with Him.
This past Sunday was the first Sunday of the Advent season. I reflected on the Hope we have in Jesus who will one day return for us. We have the hope that we will either meet Him in the sky as He returns triumphantly, or meet Him in glory when we go home to heaven. As I reflected I thought of those who do not know the Christmas story. So I am going to teach the Christmas story to my children this year as a countdown to Christmas.
Beloved we have an enduring hope that some do not have. How well do you know the Christmas story, how well do you know your God story, and how well do you know how to share how merciful and gracious God is to you and I each and every day. People without hope need to know that there is hope for them. That you and I have not arrived to a place where we deserve grace and mercy, nor could we ever earn it. They need to know there is a gift waiting for them too.
This Christmas season share your hope with someone. In whatever way you choose. The best part is that even when the gift of God is given to someone else there is still more than enough for you and I, and no one can ever take our gift of hope away. It’s the kind of gift that you and I can afford to keep on giving.
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Another Samaritan Woman 