The Perfect Gift
The perfect gift! It is the gift of God". This is the season when we are thinking about gifts. And gifts are upon everyone's minds. People must enjoy the giving and receiving of gifts at Christmas time because if they didn't they wouldn't get out on Sundays and risk their lives! People brave the crowds and traffic and they go through all kinds of Christmas lists and all kinds of shopping lists trying to think about what they ought to buy for one another. And the giving and receiving of gifts has traditionally been one of the most wonderful and enjoyable parts of the Christmas season. Young people do you remember the first outstanding Christmas gift you ever received? I mean one that really stands out in your mind. How about you, do you remember the first gift that was really a big gift from your parents or grandparents or whoever it was from? I do. The first gift that I really remember receiving was when I was five years old. And it was a bicycle. My dad believed in doing things the hard way. He bought me a bicycle, which I had never ridden before but he didn't buy ny training wheels to go on it. He just sat me on that thing and rolled me down the hill. And that is how I learned to ride that bike. And brother, I want you to know that I became acquainted with every tree and every rock on the ground on that farm trying to learn to ride that bicycle. I will never forget it. I probably received some gifts before then. Probably some teddy bears or baby rattlers or things like that but I don't remember them. I remember that bicycle. That gift was very special to me. But I also remember another gift that I received. I remember as a six-year-old boy I opened my heart to Jesus and received God's perfect Christmas gift. And what a tragedy it is that so many people leave this gift unwrapped. So many people do not receive the wonderful, free gift of God that God has for every person that will simply open their heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing how many times that the Bible refers to Jesus Christ and salvation as the gift of God? Jesus Himself referred to salvation in that way in the John 4:10 as He talked to the Samaritan woman. He said to her, "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." Jesus said oh if you just knew about the gift of God you would gladly open your heart and receive that wonderful, precious, free gift of God ...
(This content is part of a series. The Perfect Christmas Gift (7 of 10) Series: CHRISTMAS Stan Coffey Ephesians 2:8)
