Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Greatest Gift

What was read at Mom's Connection Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 8:

I'm placing before you this beautiful gift. If I would give this beautifully wrapped gift to one of you, what would you do with it? What if you never took the time to open it? I would feel disappointed, hurt, and angry at your callous rejection of my friendship and my love for you. And for you, this gift would be worthless if you left it wrapped on this table. It would be of no benefit to you.

Yet this is exactly what so many people do every Christmas. They have celebrated Christmas every year of their lives without ever having opened their greatest and most expensive Christmas gift- Jesus Christ. Jesus is God's Christmas gift to you. He came wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. He went unrecognized by many in that time and still in ours as the priceless and personalized gift He is.

It doesn't matter whether you are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Mormon, or have no religious background at all. God didn't send Jesus to bring us religion! He came to make a relationship with God possible. In Romans 5:11 it reads, "Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God- all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in dying for our sins- making us friends of God."


For some of us who have opened this precious gift we have found that in Jesus our past is forgiven, we have a purpose for living, and a home in heaven to look forward to. (Moms stood up and shared what Jesus has done for them.)For me, Jesus replaced my self-centeredness with love and compassion for others. And Jesus says to you today, "I can do the same things in you. But I'm not going to break down the door of your heart. You have to invite me in." Is it time for you to accept His gift today? If you want to take that step today, you can recite the following prayer:

Dear God in Heaven,
I know that I have sinned against you and that my sins separate me from you. Please forgive me. I want to accept your free gift of salvation given to me through Jesus Christ because He died on the cross for my sins, rose again three days later, and hears my prayer today. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey you, and to do Your will for the rest of my life.
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen

The Bible tells us that when one person makes a decision to follow Christ that all of Heaven rejoices! Praise God!! 

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