The Unwanted Gift

You will often see them in the classified ads of the local paper or even on the internet auction sites. FOR SALE, UNWANTED GIFT. I have seen all manner of things offered in this way, from a Mercedes Benz to a toaster, from an electric drill to a diamond ring. I wonder about the stories behind these items. Had someone not read the wedding present list in the case of the toaster? Was there a spurned suitor in the case of the diamond ring? Was there a husband with a phobia of DIY in the case of the unwanted power tools? I'm afraid I can't come up with the scenario for the unwanted Mercedes CLK! However, there is one constant in all of those cases. The gift was not wanted, and there is something sad about that.

Someone had taken the time to think about someone else, spend hard earned cash on them, wrap the present up, (OK, not the Mercedes!), and then give the gift, but it hadn't been wanted. Being the polite people that we are, I expect that appreciative noises were made on receipt of the gift, but in the end it gets rejected.

God has given a gift to this world. His Son, born in Bethlehem as a member of our human race. There has never been a gift like this one! Who would give up their own son! God would, and did so that a lost world could be saved through his sacrifice of himself for our sin at Calvary. The tragedy is that he came to a world that didn't want him! God had told us this would happen 800 years before he was born.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. (Isaiah 53:3)

For so many Jesus Christ became the unwanted and rejected gift. The good news of the gospel is that God didn't snatch back his amazing gift, but willingly gave him to be the Saviour of any and all who turn to him and trust him to be their Lord.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

This Christmas, will you think about the greatest gift, and most importantly, will you receive it from God for yourself?

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