Galatians 1:4-5
When I think of Christmas, my mind goes to family, friends,
food, and most of all to a very special gift. But it was not always that way, as a small child I remember
Christmas as a special day when my little friends down the street and around
the big park, got all kinds of gifts, but it was not so in our house, we only
got one, and often it was small in comparison to my friend’s gifts. Mother always had some kind of home
made candy and an apple or orange in our stocking and if dad was not working he
would always open the Bible and read the story of God sending his only Son to
redeem sinners. Dad would tell us
that of all the gifts we would ever get, that Jesus was, by far, the greatest
gift we would ever be given. I was
not interested in Bible stories; I wanted a fire truck!
In the fourth verse, the apostle Paul is espousing the story
of the only gift that holds value for this life and the one to come, “who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the
present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the
glory forever and ever. Amen.” As
a child I just wanted a big red fire engine, but what a gift to have a dad who
was not able to give me toys. A
dad who did not spend time making up stories of a fictional Santa Claus that
would have little or no value to my life, instead my dad gave me the gift of
truth.
As a child, I just wanted what others around me were
getting, and as I got older I seemed to believe that happiness would be found
in what I acquired, not understanding that material things never brought peace
into my life, but often came with an empty feeling of knowing that something
better was just out of my reach.
I was 27 before I received the gift that dad had so often
talked about, it was like no other gift I had received, it came with joy and
peace and it has changed my value system, in fact it has done the following in
my life. It has opened a door to
life; “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and
out and find pasture.” (John 10:9) I found the only One who could remove my sin; Acts 4:12
states, “And there is salvation in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be
saved.” While I was
still living in sin, while I was still adding to my toys, God showed His love
for me, Romans 5:9, “Since, therefore, we have now
been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath
of God.” Dad often
talked about earth not being our home, that if I would study the Scriptures I
would get information on what home looked like, and that Christ would come
someday and take all who received him to that home. Hebrews 9:27-28, “And just as it
is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ
having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time,
not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” So today when I think of
Christmas, I think of Jesus, the greatest gift, the only gift that has real
value.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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