“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” (2 Cor 15)
Christmas is once again approaching, that time of year when we, through the giving of gifts to one another, celebrate the giving of the greatest gift ever: The baby Jesus.
The problem is, this gift, described by Paul as the “Indescribable Gift,” has, unfortunately, largely remained unopened.
First of all, billions of people have never even heard of the gift, let alone opened it; to say nothing of the millions who, upon learning of the gift, refuse to unwrap it at all, thinking they don’t “need” it, or it isn’t “for them”.
Unfortunately, the majority of the ones who have accepted the gift, have only “opened” the outside layer. They have accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation and have received cleansing of sin. But there is oh, so much more than that to the gift!
Let me illustrate: Last Christmas I asked for and received a beautiful new watch. Having requested the timepiece to simply help me keep track of the time, I was a little overwhelmed to see all those dials and buttons on the face of the watch. “Oh well,” I thought, “it tells the time, and that’s the important thing.”
I then proceeded to think of the watch as simply a timepiece, and it was only later that I made the effort to read the paperwork that came with it. Only then did I learn that it had a built-in stopwatch, that it kept track of the date and even the moon phase. And then there is this dial around the face that I still haven’t quite figured out, but the point is, my simple timepiece is oh, so much more! And so it is with the “indescribable gift” of the Baby Jesus: Salvation, yes! Thank You God! But oh, so much more.
Over the course of the next two weeks, this series will look at what the gift of the Baby Jesus truly means. But first, why should we worry about fully unwrapping this gift? We have Salvation, don’t we? Isn’t that enough?
Yes, yes it is. If the gift were only about Salvation, it could still be described as the “indescribable gift”. Praise God for the Salvation that it brings. But to fully understand this from God’s perspective, let me go back, for a moment, to my beautiful new watch.
I would later learn that my husband spent hours choosing that watch.
First of all, he made the effort to find one of a specific brand name, which, unfortunately, is a bit hard to come by in North America.
Secondly, he specifically hunted out and choose an analog watch that had a built in stopwatch and a date function, because he knows how often I need a stop watch, and how often I have to date things for legal medical records each day. He also knew that knowing the moon phase would amuse me.
Finally, he specifically chose one that would be waterproof up to 100m, for my last watch broke due to water exposure.
How would he have felt if I had never taken the time or effort to get to know the “other” functions of my watch?
I don’t know, but if the tables were turned, my feelings would have been hurt and I might have said, “Why did I spend all that time and money on this watch when all he wanted was a time piece that I could have purchased from the dollar store?”
This example is just a watch, but Jesus’ “indescribable gift” is oh, so much more. My husband spent time researching my gift, yes; but Jesus left the fellowship of His Father and came to live on this Earth where: “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Is 53:3a). He suffered incomprehensibly, even laying down His life to give us this “Indescribable Gift.”
How must He feel when we do not fully unwrap it?
Think about it!
Friends, I invite each of you to join me this Christmas in desiring to fully unwrap Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift.”
Join us on Thursday to begin learning what the “Indescribable Gift” truly entails.
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
(To access the entire “Indescribable Gift” mini-series, please click here.)