It's the morning after Christmas, and after all of the gifts have been unwrapped, again my Christmas tree looks barren.
The decorations on the tree are still intact, but without the gifts beneath, it's just another pretty thing taking up space in my living room.
That is what life is like without Jesus. Without the gift of His grace; without His love, His sacrifice, His shed blood, no matter how decorated our lives may be--no matter what job title, degrees attained, wealth accumulated--they are useless, taking up space with no real purpose other than to look pretty for the moment.
The apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians, "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all thins, I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ," (Philippians 3:8, NIV)
Whatever good things we may acquire in this life, they are nothing compared to the gift of knowing Jesus Christ. No matter how expensive the present we may have received on yesterday, it is rubbish compared to the gift that came wrapped in rags and laid in a pig's trough in a manger over 2,000 years ago.
My prayer today is that my life is more than just a decorated tree. I want my life to matter and to touch others in a way that helps them experience Jesus through me. I want His love to show through me, and I want my life to be like His--a gift to all I encounter.
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