Imagine that your friends throw a birthday party for you. Everyone
brings a gift, but instead of giving them to you, they give them to each
other! As strange as that sounds, it happens every Christmas. We give
gifts to everybody except Jesus.
You may be saying to yourself,
“God already has everything! What could I possibly give him?” Or you may
think you don’t have anything worth giving.
God doesn’t want
things from you. Indeed, God says, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want
your love; I don’t want your offerings – I want you to know me” (Hosea
6:6, TLB).
Here are several things to give Jesus this Christmas that he can’t get from anyone but you.
Give
him your trust. God will never force you to trust him. Faith is always
voluntary. You have to give him your trust. And then God will work in
your life based on your faith in him. Jesus says, “According to your
faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29, NIV). The more you trust
him, the more he is able to do through you.
Give him your heart.
The Message paraphrase says, “Open up before GOD, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done” (Psalm 37:5, The Message). God wants
every part of your life. He wants you to say, “God, I’m opening up my
life to you – the good, the bad, and the ugly.” When you do that, God
promises to help you mature into who he created you to be.
Giving God your heart also means giving him what you love, value, and
treasure. In fact, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also” (Luke 12:34, NIV). God isn’t just talking about your
money. He doesn’t need your money. He wants what it represents –
anything that is more important to you than him.
Bring others
to him. God wants everyone in his forever family. It’s the reason he
sent Jesus: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16, NKJV). God wants you to tell others about Jesus. The
Bible says: “Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and
urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full” (Luke
14:23, NLT). This Christmas, be a star and a light that guides other
people to Jesus.
Jesus wants these gifts, and he can’t get
them from anyone but you. But he won’t force you. Despite the rush and
activities of the season, stop today to consider what gifts you will
bring to Jesus this Christmas.
This Christmas, be a star and a light that guides other people to Jesus.
What gifts will you bring to Jesus this Christmas?
Think of at least one person you can invite to a Christmas service this year. Make a plan to invite them!
Profile Background:
Rick
Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church, one of America’s
largest and most influential churches. Pastor Rick is the author of the
New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. His book The Purpose
Driven Church was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the
20th century. Pastor Rick created The PEACE Plan to address the five
global giants – spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty,
disease, and illiteracy – through the power of ordinary people in the
local church. His Daily Hope broadcast and daily devotionals are offered
around the world. You can listen to the broadcast or sign up for the
free devotionals at PastorRick.com.
Prayer Response to this featured article:
Jesus, we bring people to you as a gift this Christmas
(Reflected devotional written by Pastor Dr Rick Warren (25th Dec 2022) –
Daily Hope Devotional, 25th December 2025 – Christmas Day)
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