Christmas Preparations – The Perfect Gift

Christmas preparations are keeping me busy. There’s the cards, shopping, wrapping, and baking, not to mention the decorating. And I still have to get what I need for Christmas dinner. There are so many details to think about and things to accomplish.

“I’m so stressed! I’m behind on everything. I don’t know how I’ll get it all done.” So many times I’ve heard these things said, or said them myself. I, like many of you, am on a quest to make this Christmas perfect, the one we will never forget. We picture the looks of joy, excitement, and gratitude on our loved ones’ faces as they open the gifts we’ve picked just for them. But there is so much to do and so little time. In the hustle and bustle of the preparations, it’s easy to lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas.

We think they are nothing alike, but believe it or not, there was a Christmas about 2000 years ago that has a lot in common with today’s Christmas. That Christmas was the first Christmas — the day of the birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Much like our Christmases today, a lot of preparation went into that first Christmas too.

God knew how He wanted the first Christmas to take place. He had the same goal we have for our children. He wanted to see the joy, excitement, and gratitude in the eyes of His children as they opened His gift. Like ours, God’s gift was wrapped. Instead of brightly colored paper and ribbons, His was wrapped in strips of cloth and tightly swaddled. But long before His gift was wrapped and left for us, God made many preparations. He wanted it to be just perfect and saw to every detail with a father’s love.

First, He chose the perfect gift. This would be a one-time-only gift, and it would be the gift that saved the world. It had to be just right. Along with the perfect gift, God picked the perfect time to give the gift. He picked a time when His people were ready to receive it. Oh, how He wanted ALL to accept His gift, but sadly, He knew there would be many who refused it.

Next, God had to pick the perfect bearer of His gift — someone who loved Him and wanted to serve Him. He needed someone who would know His desire and carry it out even if it meant hardship for her. He chose a young girl with a loving spirit, who desired nothing but to serve her God. Along with her, He chose a man with a heart of understanding and love, who would take care of her in the midst of ridicule. He chose a man He could count on to see to it that God’s will was done.

He used a ruler, one not serving Him, whose decrees would cause the young couple to travel to the perfect place for His gift to be given. Because of him, there was a census requiring each person to travel to the city of his ancestry. The young couple traveled to Bethlehem just at the time when the young woman was about to bear the gift. (It was the perfect time.) They traveled, the young woman riding on a donkey, with hopes of getting a comfortable room at an inn on arrival.

The giver of the gift had a different idea. He chose an unusual place for the gift’s arrival — a place away from the hustle and bustle of the travelers. It was a place of little comfort but surrounded by the quiet sounds of His creation. He chose a stable, a simple place for a wondrous gift. There the gift was given into the arms, and the hearts, of the loving young woman and her courageous husband. After wrapping the gift with love and care, they gently placed it in a bed of warm, dry straw.

Upon the gift’s arrival, God prepared a radiant star to shine in the sky. He used it to mark the gift’s arrival and location. He chose to reveal to simple shepherds the gift He had given them and allowed them to be the first to welcome the gift. Arriving at that simple stable, they beheld the gift and were filled with wonder.  They found it, still wrapped and lying in the manger filled with straw — a small baby, but the most wondrous, selfless gift ever given. The first Christmas had come. The preparations were complete, and the gift had been opened.  

So, here you are, in the midst of all your preparations for this Christmas, and I wonder, have you thought about that first Christmas and the gift given to you by the one and only God? I know you’re busy, but take a moment to remember the preparations made by God and the gift He gave. You need never doubt His love for you. He showed it through the gift of His Son.

He came at the perfect time, in the perfect way and at a cost you can’t possibly imagine. Go ahead, marvel at God’s gift and accept it with humility, joy, and gratitude. Trust me, this is the one gift you’ll never regret unwrapping.