by Ptr. Gen Concepcion
Reading for the Day: Mark 8:34-37
As a child, the gifts I’d receive made Christmas merry. I particularly remember the one gift I never failed to receive year after year after year. It was the spankingly brand new Dragon Titan tsinelas one of my uncles religiously gave the kids in the family every Christmas. Oh, the smell and feel of brand new rubber slippers! Merry!
Gifts certainly rate high in making the Christmas season merry. For some it’s the act of giving, but certainly for most, especially for little children, it’s the receiving that brings all the merriness.
Alas, here we are again! ‘Tis the season to be merry, ‘tis the season of giving and receiving!
‘Tis also one of the two seasons to best talk about the greatest act of giving, the other one being the Lenten Season.
The fact is that Christmas is all about the greatest gift a person could ever receive – Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son. He is The Gift graciously given by the Father to mankind so that people may have all the reason to be merry for not only a season but for all eternity.
This Christmas let us intentionally cherish The Gift we have received from our Heavenly Father. Let Him not be buried under busy schedules. Let Him not be dismissed over earthly and temporal gifts. Let not His voice be drowned by the merrymaking sounds of the season.
Over the years since receiving The Gift at the age of sixteen, I have increasingly understood that being saved is the ultimate reason to be merry, and that is not only for a time, but each and every single day of my life.
The Gift has given me what no other gift ever can – abiding hope, deep-rooted joy and happiness, peace that endures, lasting satisfaction, and did I say, life eternal?
Christ is the grandest of all gifts! He is so much more precious than the purest of diamonds, more valuable than all the riches of the world!
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:36, NIV).
The Gift is so prized it is beyond price!
The Gift is so prized it is beyond price!
My brother, my sister, in whatever season of life this Christmas season finds you, I implore you to be merry. Not because of anything you will receive this season but because of Him whom you have already received, the ultimate Gift, Christ Jesus, the Savior of the World.
If you’re in the middle of life’s storms right now, know that The Gift will see you through it. Let His peace be your anchor. If you’re afloat the tides of success, remember Him all the more. Let gratitude be your sail.
This Christmas season, let our merrymaking be grand. Let our worship be fervent. Let our praise be loud! Let us pray thankfully, trustingly, expectantly; and let us serve joyfully.
Because of Christ, we can be merry this season and each and every season after, until we say, “Happy Rapture!”
Reflection: Christ is the Gift that keeps on giving. What has Christ’s salvation given you?
Why is Christ your reason to be merry?
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