The Greatest Gift (A Christmas Devotional for FBC Students)Every year at the end of December we celebrate Christmas. Over the past eight years, every year at the end of December I also celebrate my wife, Thea’s birthday. The traditions of Christmas and Birthdays both add up to gift buying. Giving and receiving gifts at Christmas time and at birthdays isn’t something we have to do. But if I didn’t I would probably be in deep trouble. Imagine if someone else close to you had a birthday and you didn’t get anything for them. Imagine if you woke up on Christmas morning, rushed into the room where you traditionally found lots of presents on Christmas morning, and you found no gifts under or around the tree. What a disappointment it would be. I remember experiencing this type of disappointment one Christmas. Even though there were gifts to open on Christmas morning. There weren’t a lot in comparison to what I (maybe a little spoiled) was accustom to. I was probably about 11 or 12 years old. We woke up on Christmas morning. I put on my brand new blue flannel P.J.’s that my Grandmother had given me the night before at our Christmas Eve family get together. I rushed into the living room to look at what wonderful gifts I would be opening and playing with. And there they were. My brother and I tore into a few gifts. I was so excited. Greatttt! I got the robot that transformed into an evil insect people eater. That was just what I wanted. Alright!!! I got the camouflage pants. Now I could hide in the woods with my neighborhood pals and be virtually undetectable by my brothers crew of friends. We could bombard them with pine comb grenades and they’d have no idea where we were. O.K. I got some black socks to wear to church, hey! I could wear these with my camouflage pants to increase my invisibility. In the mist of my present opening, as I began to run out of presents to open, I began to watch my brother dig into his stuff. Hey! He got the camouflage pants too. Now he would be hiding out in the woods too, and terrorizing me and my friends as well. He got the black socks too. No robot that transformed into an evil insect people eater, instead he got a hand saw for fort building. Maybe I could borrow that from him sometime. Pretty soon all the gifts had been opened and he and I began toying with our new gifts. It didn’t take long for me to figure out how to convert my robot into an insect. After all I had about a dozen other robot toys that were a lot like it. As my brother and I looked around the opened gifts we both began to get a strange feeling. And we began to ask that question that semi-spoiled kids ask on Christmas – Is this it? We made eye contact with a little bit of a puzzled look on our faces. I began to ponder the past years of Christmas mornings. Last year it seemed like we had gotten a lot more stuff. Didn’t we? I think there are many people in the world. People that are asking that same question my brother and I were asking. They don’t ask with words. They sometimes reveal the question through the decisions they make. Through their lack of hope and meaning that translates in the way they live their lives. They’ve gone all their lives and now they want to know – Is this it? Is this all life has to offer? Is this all I’m going to get out of this life? These people are those who haven’t experienced the Hope, the Peace, the Joy, and the Love that we have been offered through Jesus Christ. They feel like they should be getting more out of their lives, they feel like something is missing, they are left puzzled unsure of why they aren’t getting more. Like me at age eleven thinking to past Christmases, they think back to times in their life when things were different. When things were better. But they have no idea how their lives can be different. My Dad began to sense his twelve and thirteen year old’s confusion that Christmas morning. He knew we felt like something was missing. So he spoke up. “Guys, I think there is one more gift to open. It’s down in the basement. My step mom urged us to put on our new Christmas totes – those cool thick socks with the tread on the bottom. We ran like wild horses to the basement to see what gift awaited. It was the greatest gift I’d ever gotten. A GO-CART. A fire engine red, single seat, 5-horse power, Go-cart. What I thought was going to be a big let down sort of Christmas was actually the best Christmas ever! We as believers are kind of like my dad in my wonderful Christmas memory. We know where to find the greatest gifts. The Hope, the Peace, the Joy, and the Love. The greatest gifts are found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. The greatest gifts we can ever discover are found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let us share the greatest gifts: the Hope of Jesus (see Isaiah 9:6). Let us share the greatest gifts: the Peace of Jesus (see Luke 12:13-14). Let us share the greatest gifts: the Joy of Jesus (see Luke 2:10). Let us share the greatest gifts: the Love of Jesus (see John 3:16). Let us share the greatest gift: Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 9:12-15). And Remember James 1:17… “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” THE MOST IMPORTANT DECEMBER CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENT ON THIS PUBLICATION: Back in September, you and your parents were given a calendar that detailed many of the events and plans that we at First Baptist Church were going to be involved with in ’07 & ‘08. The information on your calendar is still correct with one exception: THE HIGH SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PARTY IS NO LONGER SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 20TH. WE RESCHEDULED THE PARTY FOR DECEMBER 12TH. ———————–PARTY PLACES & PEOPLE: Jr. High Party @ Allie Locklear’s House @ 6pm on DECEMBER 19th. High School Party @ John Michael & Debra Story’s House @ 6pm on DECEMBER 12th. EACH PERSON IN ATTENDANCE SHOULD BRING a 5 dollar dirty santa gift… (no gag gifts please) December 8 – Samaritan’s Purse Mission Project in Atlanta, GA December 5 – Wed. night mission project / special Christmas Service in Youth RoomDec. 12 and 19 –Christmas Parties and Caroling Outings.Dec.. 29 The Lord’s Table Jan. 6 DEPOSIT DUE for February NC SKI TRIP Jan. 12 Senior FBC Trip (more details TBA)Feb. 13 Valentine’s Banquet, to serve as Youth Ministry Fund Raiser for Choir Feb. 15-18 NC SKI TRIP
