Joanne Long wrote: Shopping for Dad had never been easy. What he wanted he bought for himself. Never excited about gifts, he always thanked the giver politely, but sometimes left the package unopened for days. I always sent something on special occasions, though - another soft blue shirt, studio pictures of my three sons, a box of homemade peanut brittle - something to let him know I cared. But this Christmas the right gift seemed impossible to find.

For most of us, preparations for Christmas include and sometimes focus on finding just the right gift to give to special people to let them know we care. In fact, many retail stores depend greatly on our Christmas shopping.

However, most of us know that Jesus is really the reason for the season. He is the gift unwrapped for all humankind on that first Christmas. He is the gift I would like us to think about for a few moments today as we continue our Christmas preparations. As we consider the gift today, my first focus is on the son and then the self.

The Gift of

I. The Son

While we may get carried away with other gifts and preparations, at least intellectually, most of us realize that Christmas was established as a special festive time for Christians to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, the Father's gift of the Son for us.

Probably no verse in the Bible speaks of the Father's gift of the Son any better than John 3:16, one of the first verses that many children in the church learn. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In this verse we see God the Father as the giver, and God the Son as the gift. Some have called this the miniature gospel. The gospel is the good news of the God who has intervened in human history by giving His only Son, born of the Virgin Mary, born to be the Savior, the deliverer of all who believe in Him. The motivation of this gift was the Father's love. God loved sinners who deserved death so much that He gave His only unique Son. Without this gift of God's Son, we would perish. We would be rightly judged as deserving of death.

Before Mary unwrapped the gift of the Son of God it was prophesied that Jesus would be porn to save His people from their sin. He was not merely a baby for a few immediate family members to enjoy while He was young. He was, and continues to be God's gift to the whole human race, to all who would truly believe in Him and submit to His kingship. God gave while we were still sinners. The gift of the Son is the gift that keeps on giving.

A beautiful contemporary Christmas song sung by Sandi Patti expresses this great truth, "The Gift Goes On."
The Father Gave the Son.
The Son gave the Spirit.
So we can give the gift of love.
And the gift goes on.

From the Gift of the Son, let us move on the consider the Gift of:

II. The Self

As I began this message, I mentioned finding just the right gift to give to special people to let them know that we care about them. How shall we respond to the loving gift of the Son?

John wrote of Jesus, "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."

The gift of the Son is a gift for each one of us to personally receive. If we do not receive the gift we do not have it. That is pretty simple. If we do not receive the gift of the Son we do not become daughter and sons of God and we do not become possessors of eternal life.

So, in essence - we receive the gift of the Son by giving the gift of self. WE give ourselves. We surrender ourselves to God. We love because He first loved us and gave Himself for us. As we respond to God's gift of love to us, we give the gift of self and along with that we give to God from the blessings He has entrusted to us. Our regular giving of our tithes and offering along with special Christmas gifts to our Lord should be part of giving ourselves, with our talents and gifts to our Savior. When we have truly given the gift of self, believing in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, the gift of one tenth or more of our income should be seen as a privilege rather than a burden. What God really wants is you and I. When He really has us, then we should be making our resources available to Him as well.

Earlier I quoted from Joanne Long telling of her struggle shopping for her Dad. "This Christmas the right gift seemed impossible to find."

You see, as that Christmas approached, her father has been hospitalized, apparently losing a five-year battle with leukemia. Many years earlier while her Dad was a medical student he had become increasingly scornful of Christianity until science itself became his source of faith, his guide, his God. Dad was not at all pleased when Jesus became the most important person in Joanne's life.

Later, as he became seriously ill he still refused to consider the possibility of eternal life and his need for the Savior. As this particular Christmas approached and his illness worsened Joanne flew out to spend a few days at her Father's bedside along with her brothers. Once after she returned to her home her Dad was able to talk to her briefly on the telephone. In response to her telling him that she was praying for him he said, "You keep doing that, Sis." That was the first time ever that he had made a positive response to a faith overture.

While her Christmas shopping was nearly completed, what could she send her dying father, a father who needed Jesus? She sensed the spirit leading her to write a letter. This time the words will be right and he will hear. From the moment she began the letter peace surrounded her.

Three days before Christmas they buried Dad. A dear elderly woman who had helped care for him at the end called Joanne aside took her hands in hers and smiled confidently and said: "I want you to know for sure. Your father was all right with God before he died. I had the joy of being able to pray with him. While his mind was still clear, he gave his heart to Jesus."

Joanne said, "I cried then, but the tears were blessed. The Lord had provided Himself as the Perfect Gift.

Conclusion

Jesus is the Father's perfect gift of the Son - the gift that keeps on giving.

Have you given the gift of self, yourself, receiving Him? Do you share this glorious gift with others at Christmas and all year long?

From the musical, "The Late, Great Potentate come these words in a song:
You are the gift. You are the gift. You are just what He has been waiting for - not gold or shining jewels, you are the gift that He has been longing for. I brought my gift to give to Him, but all He did was touch my hand. Don't you see all I need to bring is me?

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