Christmas is a wonderful time where people experience the joy of giving and receiving gifts.  It can also be a stressful time as we go through the process of buying gifts for other people with the hope that they will bring that person joy.

I am sure that many of us have experienced that horrible feeling where we have spent a lot of time and money to buy that perfect gift for someone, only to see their faces frown in disappointment, or twist into a fake smile as they open it up.  As horrible as that feeling is, there is something even worse than that, and that is where the person does not open up your gift at all.  That would be absolutely heartbreaking. 

In John 3:16 we read:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Christmas celebrates the amazing truth that God loves all of us so much, that He has emptied all of heaven to give us the greatest gift that He can give, His son Jesus, so that we can all live forever with Him in a world with no COVID-19, sickness, sorrow, pain or death.   

The sad thing is that many people have never even opened this gift.

I pray that this Christmas we will receive God’s greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ, the reason for the season.

God bless,

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai