When I was in seventh grade, I lost my home to a gas explosion. Many people came to the aid of my family, providing food, clothing, and even housing until our home was rebuilt. One of the gifts that meant the most to me, however, was when a girl in my class (whom I did not know well) came into school with a box which contained four brand new pairs of earrings. She assumed that I had lost all of my earrings and that I could use a few pairs. Could I ever! Buying earrings to replace the ones I had lost was probably the very last priority my family had, and wasn’t even on our radar. But those earrings made me feel so special, that even today, decades later, I still remember the specific earrings and the girl who gave them to me.
In high school, while running with the track team one day in the spring, the topic of Easter baskets came up. I mentioned nonchalantly that I had not received an Easter basket in years. The shock on the team was palpable! The week before Easter, I was wonderfully surprised at practice one day when the girls presented me with an Easter basket which they had all chipped in and bought. I was floored, and felt so cared about.
If a pair of earrings and an Easter basket can make one feel so special and cared about, what about someone actually giving their life in place of yours? That is exactly what Jesus did for us. In fact, the Bible says “thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). How do we wrap our heads around the fact that God came in human form in order to walk among us, and give His life for ours in order to cancel our sins? It’s really hard to fathom!
As gift-giving time is upon us (already!), the best gift we can give back to Jesus, and to others, is to show and tell them about the Greatest Gift of All, Jesus Christ.
