A Time of Giving [Day 8]

Christmas is the first act of the greatest love story put on display. God gave the most precious gift to the people he loved, knowing that this would be the greatest act of love and sacrifice the world would ever see.

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” – John 4:9-12

Christmas is a time of giving, and Advent is a season of looking forward, eagerly and expectantly, to the gift to come. In this Advent season we remember the first coming of Christ, when God so loved us that us that He would send the most priceless gift, but we also look forward to the gift to come, when God brings about a new heaven and a new earth, completing His redemptive work.

The joyful anticipation we feel for opening present Christmas morning is a beautiful taste of how we’re meant to live our lives – overflowing excitement for the gift we’ll be given. We know how great the first gift was, and now, as we enjoy this advent season, we can wait with joy for the second coming, the greatest gift to come.