In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The greatest gift. How often do we think about the greatest gift? We think about gifts at times of celebration such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and of course, Christmas. The holidays especially have us all thinking of gifts and wanting to give the best gift possible. I love giving gifts and really don’t need a reason, I will just give one because I feel like it. Giving is a great feeling.
We go out looking for the greatest gift. We look for something that the person we are giving it to will absolutely love. We look for things that will move the heart. When we find something that we think will work, we sit down and prepare to wrap the gift. We pick pretty paper and carefully fold the edges, placing tape just so. We get out ribbon and carefully place it in just the right way. We place a bow in just the right spot. We get a tag and lovingly write the person’s name the gift is for. Once all this is done, we carefully place it under the tree.
When it comes time to give the present, we hand it to the person it is intended for and watch with high hope as they open the gift and delight in the smiles, maybe even tears, that cross their face. Mission accomplished. All our efforts did what they were intended to do. Joy is felt by all.
What we miss is really the greatest gift. It can’t be bought in a store. It can’t be wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a bow. It was given freely though. It was wrapped in cloth and carefully laid in a manger. The greatest gift was Jesus.
Jesus was love sent down to earth. A living example, walking amongst us. God came down for a purpose, a reason. To save mankind. To be the living sacrifice for sin. To redeem us all. All for love. The greatest gift is love. God is love. (1 John 4:8)