An Unearned Gift

Happy Sunday, and a merry Christmas. I want to thank those of you who have donated to this ministry in the past year. Please know how thankful I am for your donations. If you would like to give, you can go to my website, davidshivers.com, and see how to participate. Please know there's no obligation, only an invitation.

I have a great board of directors that make sure this money is spent wisely. Before I get started, I want to recommend a Christmas movie, The Star of Bethlehem. It's a documentary by Rick Larson that was done in 2007. You can see the entire movie for free on YouTube, and if you've not seen it, I highly recommend you see The Star of Bethlehem.

Speaking of movies, perhaps you have watched a movie about the Christmas Truce of 1914. It was Christmas Eve, and World War One, it was in full swing. On the Western Front, the Germans and the British were fighting, and it was bitterly cold that night. As midnight approached, the fighting stopped, and from the German trenches there was singing: "Stila knocked, had a good knocked, Alish left, ansonvacht." And then from the British trenches: "Silent night, holy night, all this calm, all is bright."

Suddenly, soldiers from both sides left their positions. They jumped from the relative safety of their trenches and raced out into no man's land. Just a few moments earlier, and they would have been killed, but the gunfire was replaced with singing and laughter. The soldiers, enemies, shook hands and embraced. They said, "Let the war stop. It's Christmas."

Of all the events of World War One, this perhaps was the most unusual. Christmas changes us. The best comes out in many, and the worst is pushed aside. Many become givers. People stand in the cold and ring bells to collect money for the unfortunate.

Families are helped, and they're so much generosity. Soldiers even stop fighting for a bit. Why is this? Let me use some words from my friend Matthew. I read from chapter one, beginning at verse 18.

"Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to Public Disgrace, plan to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Shall bear a son. You're to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.' And all this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Look, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means God with us."

I love that part of the Christmas story, that name Emmanuel, God With Us. At this time of year, Christmas, I love the movies, I love the music, I love the decorations, I love watching the children. And I'm not talking about a chronological age here. I love watching the children of God.

For a second, I do want to talk about children by age, the little ones. One thing I have noticed over the years is that children will receive an unearned gift without hesitation. Children will receive an unearned gift. Think about this for a moment.

Let's pretend it's Christmas morning, and you give a six-year-old a pony and an 80 inch flat screen TV, a bicycle, a four-wheeler, a trampoline, the latest video game system, and a trip to Disney World. Would this child look at you and say, "You know, this is just too much. I can't accept such gifts"? No way would that happen. In fact, there's a good chance the child would be looking for more stuff after the last gift was open. Children gladly will receive.

Adults, however, can get a little funny. I remember doing a magic trick for a three-year-old where I pretended to take a dollar bill from his ear. When the trick was over, I gave him the dollar. His grandmother tried to give it back. "He can't take your money," she said. He reached for it, and he gladly kept the loot.

I bet you can see where I'm going with this. If you're an adult and a child of God, you need to receive the gifts that he offers you. You need to receive God's unconditional love. You need to receive God's forgiveness. You need to receive God's grace. You need to receive the presence of God.

I could go on and on. This world needs Jesus. Wherever you are, accepting God's greatest gift, Emmanuel, God Is With Us, is the greatest thing you can do this Christmas. I encourage you to be thankful for the gifts of God this week.

I learned that there's a percentage of our listeners to these messages that are tuned in from the Ukraine. I pray that you truly, truly know that God is with you there. I also encourage my listeners to pray for these friends. May God bless us all, his children. Merry Christmas.

Pray with me. Lord God, thank you for your wonderful gift of Jesus Christ, God With Us, and the gifts that you continue to give us every moment of every day, including our breath, our heartbeat, but most importantly Your Love and you're forgiveness and your grace and your direction. One day we look forward to the reward you give us, not for our goodness, but for our belief in what you have done for us. Father, thank you for this day. Bless our friends everywhere, especially those right now in the Ukraine, in this season. In Jesus name, amen.