The Most Extravagant Gift

Extravagance.

That's what it was, purely and simply. My gifts for my family this year were the ultimate display of my affection for them. I could hardly wait to pack them into my car and head out of the city on this snowy Christmas morning. This day was going to be great. I could almost see the look of shock on my dad's face when he opened his new blackberry or my mom's protests of the expense. when she took out that candy apple red mixer. My younger brother would love his new Wii, and my neices and nephews would bounce the walls when they opened...

What was that sound? My apartment was usually dead quiet in the morning. I had paid enough for it that it better be. Sniffing?

I chalked it up to my imagination and returned my thoughts to the day to come. I guessed the fun wouldn't start until I got my lazy self out of bed. Coffee. I needed coffee.

You need more than that. A familiar, yet unwelcome voice spoken within my head. You've got the designer clothes, the apartment to envy, the dream job, the convertible. You've got friends in high places and friends in higher places. You've got all the connections and beauty and prestige a person could dream of, and still you haven't managed to figure out a way to peace. You haven't figured out how to make my voice go away. I'm always going to be here, reminding you of all the horrible things you've ever done, about the eventual payback that is most certainly coming your way...

"Enough!" I jumped from beneath the covers and quickly went to shower and dress. When I came out of the bathroom, I heard it again.

Sniff. Sniff.

Now more than a little convinced that someone had broken into my apartment - someone with a cold, apparently, I pulled on my clothes and ran down the spiral staircase into my spacious great room flooded with light from the oversized windows. The Christmas tree that I had trimmed to perfection graced the room with a commanding presence, and all the presents I had left beneath it were still there. Everything seemed in order. I turned toward the kitchen, then heard the sound again.

I walked into the room, and immediately noticed the small present that lay beneath the tree, the top removed. I knew I hadn't put it there. The wrapping paper was brown and plain. I peeked inside but it was empty. Empty and dirty, I noted with distaste. Who had given me such an ugly gift?

It was then that I noticed I was not alone. I jumped back in shock as I saw her - just a teenaged girl, her clothes worn and her hair in need of a good brushing. She was crying pitifully.

"How did you get in here?" I demanded. As I spoke, she whirled around to look at me with wide, scared eyes. She quickly knelt and placed something into the box, covering it with the lid and bravely wiping away the tears that streamed down her face.

"What is that?" I motioned toward the shabby box. She looked hard at it, as if she wished she could grab it and run.

"I was told to give it to you." she said softly, her voice breaking with emotion. "He said I should give it to you."

With that, she was gone, wrapping her arms around herself in a forlorn gesture as she hurried out the door.

I stared back at the box. It moved slightly. I reached over and unwillingly pulled the top away to see inside.

I could never had been prepared for what lay beneath the packaging. He squirmed beneath his crude swaddling, releasing a soft baby sigh as he settled back to sleep.

"What in the world?" I said, my heart thumping as I stared at him. I had never spent much time around newborns, but the absolute softness of his hair and skin, the defenselessness, the sweet smell that hovered around him was enough to make me pick him up. There was a card laying on his tiny chest.

"For my beloved, I give you my only son. He is what you are missing. He is your answer.He will give his life to redeem yours."

I stared hard at the tiny one. Only son? The answer? Give his life?

I felt tears wash over me with the realization. In this tiny, nondescript package, hidden among my fancily wrapped, costly gifts, rested the most extravagant gift of all.

Given to me.

Could I accept it? Could I accept him, poor and unlikely soul that he was?

Could I love him?

Why Christmas Matters

Christmas – the most uncontaminated form of wholesomeness that mankind is capable of… in the purest form of divinity that Almighty God simply is.

There are always those that downplay Christmas, that say the birth of Jesus is not as important as His death and resurrection, but how can one be separated from the other? His birth was heralded by celestial beings, honored by kings, and predicted by prophets for centuries. Of course the ultimate goal was the act of paying for the sins of mankind, but the miracle that sprung from a quiet night in an animal stable set in motion the amazing God-conspired plan that was intended from the moment of creation.

This Christmas, may we pause in our business, in our shopping, in our visiting. As we watch our loved ones open presents and see their faces shine, may we remember the ultimately extravagant gift we were presented with on that silent, holy night. Who are we that we should be worth the life of His Son? But yet it remains that the baby's cry that shattered the silence in a Bethlehem stable that night is the voice of an immense and incredible Savior who was, is, and is to come. And yet who loves the lowest, the vilest, the most broken among us. Who came for them. Who died for them.

Who lives... for you.