Home for Christmas

 “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.” John 3:16 (NIV)

 

  When I was a little girl, the question I needed answered before December 25th  was “What do you want for Christmas?” I asked my sisters and my brother, my mother and my father. It was a huge question for me because my funds were limited to a small allowance each week plus whatever I could dig out from under the sofa cushions.

   The answers changed every year for all my family members until, one by one, each of my siblings and I married and moved away.  After that, every time my mother was asked “What do you want for Christmas?” her answer remained the same. “I want all my children home,” she would smile. “Nothing more.” No matter how hard I tried to change how I asked that same question, the answer never changed.

  I didn’t understand why that was the only Christmas gift my mother wanted. Until my children grew up, married, and moved away. Until the phone calls began with “Hi Mom. December is going to be here before you know it. What do you want for Christmas?” And then I finally realized just what my mother meant when she said “More than anything, I want all my children home.”

  Our Heavenly Father desires the same thing for His children: home with Him for eternity. The cost? No looking under sofa cushions for extra change. No hoarding an allowance to pay for a gift. The price for all His children to be able to come home has been paid in full by Jesus at the cross.

  As mothers, we completely understand wanting all our children home for Christmas. How much more our Heavenly Father desires that His children will turn to Him and accept the beautiful priceless gift of salvation, wrapped up in the mercy, forgiveness, and love of Jesus so they can be home with Him for eternity.

  Father, I praise you and thank you for your beautiful gift of eternal life to all who believe in you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Do you find that there are times when you take the gift of salvation and eternal life for granted?  

• If so, why do you think you feel that way?

 Apply

• Journal the different Scriptures that talk about the promise of eternal life with the Lord.

• Memorize one of those Scriptures each week and share it with a friend or family member.

Power 

• John 3:16 (NIV) “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.”

• II Peter 3:9 (NIV) “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

• I Timothy 2:3-4 (NIV) “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”