Christmas is over but there are still gifts to unwrap!

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Wow it’s over! The presents are gone and family has left and went back home. For some there might be an empty feeling even though we just received so much. Christmas has become such a busy holiday that has put more attention on the presents than it does Christ.

Don’t get me wrong because it is good to give gifts and spend time with family. I enjoy it just as much as anybody else does. As I was sitting thinking about things something hit me differently than it has in the past. Something that I’ve known but was more real to me than ever before. Christmas is the only birthday party that everyone is Invited to. Not only is everyone invited they are giving and receiving gifts to others not to Jesus for who’s birthday they are celebrating.

As I thought even further I realized that not only does everyone else receive gifts at this celebration the one that is supposed to be being celebrated is the one giving gifts as well. You see God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. For us to even have a reason to celebrate God had to give us the gift of Jesus. From that point Jesus has continued to give us gifts. He eventually took our place on the cross. To bear our sins so that we would have a way to be reconciled to God.

If we have faith in him and believe we will be saved and given eternal life. He was buried and then rose again victorious over death hell and the grave. He ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us so that where he is we can be also someday. He left us his spirit and promised never to leave us or forsake us. Wait! There are still more gifts.

Unlike when we open out last gift from family and friends, the gifts that Jesus gives us there is never a last one. There is something new to unwrap every day. The most important gift to unwrap after believing in Jesus as Savior is his word the Bible. We have to look at it as a gift and unwrap it everyday with anticipation to receive even more gifts as we read it. In Galatians 5:22-23 we are given 10 gifts. The spirit and all of spirits character traits, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. These gifts are available to be unwrapped every day.

We have to believe like Ephesians 5:9-10 “(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and Truth.) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. We have to believe that the spirit is good, Righteous and Truth. Satan also offers us gifts and that list is found in Galatians 5:19-21 sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. Satan wraps these up in the prettiest packages so that we are tempted to open them. Once opened they all give us the same thing … destruction.

The pile that God offers leads to a Joyful, abundant life. The choice is yours. So please choose wisely. As for me, I can’t wait to see each gift God gives me everyday of this new year of 2023.

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By Pastor Chad Inman

Your pastor speaks

The writer is the pastor of Faith Baptist Church, Sidney.

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