“Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:5-11)
A young boy, Chris, was sitting in Santa’s lap and going over a long list of presents that he wanted for Christmas. “I want a bicycle,” he said, “and I also want a wagon, a chemistry set, a telescope, an electric train, a football, a Kindle FIRE, and a pair of rollerblades.”
“That’s a long list,” said Santa. “I’ll have to check carefully to see if you were a good boy.”
After thinking for a moment Chris said, “Don’t bother, Santa, I’ll just settle for the rollerblades.” Not many of us would be able to “pass” a really thorough investigation to discover if we were worthy of receiving a long list of gifts. We’d probably be like Chris and settle very quickly for very little. Nor would many of us want to have someone investigate our lives and then decide if we deserved a gift or not. We would be quite anxious — if not completely frightened.
But God is so very different. He knows everything there is to know about us and still offers us the most precious gift He has: His Son.
“Now, no one is likely to die for a good person,” said Paul, “though someone might be willing to die for someone who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Christ: the source of eternal life.
There you have it. It is not about whether or not we are good or deserving of eternal life through Him. It is because of God’s great love that we can have the gift of eternal life!
Prayer
May we realize during this season, our Father, the great Gift we have because of Your love. May Your Son be our main interest and attraction this year. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Stay encouraged!
Pastor Mike
