The Greatest Christmas Gift

My parents used to give me some great Christmas gifts. When I say great, I do not mean over the top expensive because we were not rich people. Their gifts were great because they made great sacrifices so that we kids could have really good Christmases. I did not deserve the gifts I received from them and I really didn’t even deserve the great parents I had. One gift my parents gave me was a Schwinn Bicycle. It was special because I had wanted it for some time but my dad told me there was just no way we could afford it. It blew me away when I actually received it. It was red, and, in my mind, it was extremely fast, and I rode that bike many many miles. Shortly after I got the bike, my best friend wanted to use it to jump a ditch. Jumping that ditch seemed like an impossible task and Glen Johnston was just the guy to prove that it was indeed impossible. As a result of the failed ditch jumping attempt, the front wheel of my Schwinn would come off every time I popped a wheelie, and I loved popping wheelies. My desire to pop wheelies was much stronger than my ability to remember that my front wheel would come off when I did. I am certain if you did a DNA test on Columbia Street in Baytown, all these years later, you would find the DNA of David Coker because of all the skin I left there.

Even though we give and receive many gifts on Christmas, this holiday is here as a reminder of the greatest gift of all. John 1:9-14 describes this gift:

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We have seen some dark times and there are promises of dark times ahead, but none of these dark times are surprises to God. As a matter of fact, He knew this world would be so dark that only one light could cut through it. That light came in the form of a regular looking child, a child named Jesus, but that child was anything but normal because the Child was, and still is, the greatest gift to all of us. Many people look at this gift and think it is like a baby bed from IKEA and the instruction book is more than they want to tackle when, in fact, the instruction book for this gift really only requires a couple of things: repentance and trust; it is absolutely the easiest instruction book to ever follow.

So, if you are somebody who finishes opening all your gifts this Christmas and you still don’t feel like you are fulfilled, if you are surrounded by people you love but feel you are alone in a dark place, or if you have experienced a loss this year that has left a wound that you believe will never be healed, make sure that you have not missed that one gift, the greatest gift ever. This gift will not keep us from popping wheelies on bicycles that lose their front wheel, but He will be there to pick us up after we do. He will not prevent us from making bad choices that lead us into darkness, but He will provide the light to make our way out of that darkness. He will not prevent us from caving to our addictions, but He will offer us a drink of living water that will quench our thirst.

There is no doubt we live in a dark world, but in the midst of that darkness, we are offered the gift of Light and all we have to do is accept it. Anybody who knows me very well knows that I am living proof this gift can be accepted by those who are the most undeserving. My desire to pop wheelies with no front wheel is still pretty strong and I still leave my DNA all over this road called life, but when I am lying there in pain it is good to see the nail-scarred hand that once belonged to a child reach out to pick me up off the ground.

When you are finished opening all of your gifts, make sure that you didn’t leave the greatest one of all unopened.

Merry Christmas!!