By: Dr. Synesio Lyra, Jr.
This year, as it happened in previous Christmas celebrations, anywhere in the world, several people will be extravagant in their giving of presents to family, relatives and even close friends. Some persons will spend a lot in the purchase of the presents they plan to give to special people in their lives.
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with lavish giving. There need not to be any limitations in one’s spending if the resources are there, and if the recipient of a gift is truly worthy of the same. And though giving of gifts can and does occur at any season of the year, Christmas is primarily a time when such gift exchanges occur with greater consistency and intensity. It affects all age levels and every strata of society!
Dr. Synesio Lyra
From a monetary stand-point, very expensive items shall always be given and received. Nevertheless, no human gift will ever supersede the costliest Christmas gift ever provided. No individual, no corporation, no combined team of billionaires could ever afford the gift I’m speaking about.
The costliest Christmas gift ever produced and provided cannot be matched by any other in the entire universe. It’s impossible to be surpassed in significance and in value. In fact, the wealthiest person of any generation will be totally incapable in purchasing it, or duplicating its extravagant cost!
Such gift came not just for one person but for many. For ages it had been promised; for centuries also it has been offered, and shall continue to be provided. What is most amazing is that this gift, in spite of its unsurpassable cost, is made available indiscriminately to any person anywhere in the world – rich or poor, young or old, educated or illiterate, powerful or very humble!
Obviously, I am referring to a gift which has been rejected by so many, not on account of its high cost, but due to people’s lack of understanding of what it represents and what it can do for them both in this life and in the life to come.
Jesus Christ is that gift – God incarnate, God with us, the promised Messiah, the only and all-sufficient Savior of the human race. That extravagant gift was provided by God the Father on that first Christmas day. His only begotten Son, Jesus, came down to earth, for the sake of the world, with a specific mission which He faithfully fulfilled later on, culminating at Calvary’s cross! While other gifts break or decay, God’s Christmas gift to us lasts forever!
As the apostle John indicated, “He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name!” (John 1:11-12).
The gift is still being offered. It’s free though costly; it has no competitors or substitutes. It cannot be bought nor exchanged, but with urgency and gratitude it can be personally appropriated. Its possessors are promised abundant life on earth and life everlasting with God in heaven! Be sure you don’t miss this unspeakable gift now. Some other time may be too late to claim it!