An Undeserved Gift

Read: John 1:14-17; 3:16-17

Caleb and Vanessa sat in the back seat of the car on the way home from Christmas shopping. They didn’t dare say a word. Mom’s face said it all. They were in big trouble. They had saved up money to buy gifts, but when they got to the store, they pushed and fought over every toy. After a couple warnings, Mom marched them out of the store empty-handed.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Caleb ventured. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Are we in big trouble?” Vanessa asked.

Mom took a deep breath. “We’ll see when we get home. I’ll talk to your dad.”

When they walked through the front door, Dad saw their glum faces. “Uh-oh. What’s going on?”

Mom looked at Caleb and Vanessa. “I want you both to go sit on the couch in the living room. We’ll be there in a minute.”

They slowly walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. Soon their parents came in.

Dad looked stern. “I’m very disappointed to hear about your behavior today, but after talking it over, Mom and I decided we want you to open an early Christmas present.”

Caleb and Vanessa looked startled as Mom handed them a small wrapped box. “Is this for real?” Caleb asked.

Mom nodded, and they both tore off the wrapping paper. Caleb pulled out a glass ornament of baby Jesus. Vanessa squealed. “It’s beautiful!”

Caleb smiled but still looked a bit suspicious. “What’s the catch?”

“Do you think you deserved an early Christmas present today?” Dad asked.

Caleb frowned. “No, Dad. We deserve something else. We deserve to be punished.”

Mom smiled. “That’s exactly why we wanted to give this to you.”

Dad nodded. “We are all full of sin—we all act ugly and do bad things. Because of that sin, we all deserve punishment from God. But instead of punishing us, He sent us the most wonderful, undeserved gift. He sent us a baby to be our Savior.”

“I get it!” Vanessa said. “Our little undeserved ornament will remind us that God sent Jesus to save us from sin.”

Caleb smiled. “I understand too. Jesus was a gift we didn’t deserve.”

–Bethany Den Boer

How about you? Do you get lots of gifts at Christmas? Do you feel like you deserve your presents and get angry when you don’t get what you want? We receive gifts at Christmas not because we earned them, but because those who give them to us love us. These gifts remind us God gave us Jesus to be our Savior not because we deserved such a wonderful gift, but because He loves us.

Today's Key Verse: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 (NLT)

Today's Key Thought: Jesus is the greatest gift