19TH DECEMBER
John 1:12
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Believe and receive this Christmas
Turn on your television or surf the Web this Christmas and you’ll discover all sorts of messages. Christmas is all about Santa, presents, good food, family time, etc. But for the one who invented Christmas—God—there’s only one message that truly matters.
God wants to share eternity with you. That’s what Christmas is all about. You weren’t created to just live 80 or 90 years. You were created for eternity. God made you to live forever. He sent Jesus as a baby so one day he could die for your sins and now you can spend forever with him.
That’s the great news of Christmas. God’s offer is available to anyone. The Bible says of Jesus, “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
God wants to spend eternity with you, so he made the way simple: You believe and you receive. Christmas is about believing and receiving—believe that the baby born in a manger is the Son of God and receive him into your life. Open your heart to him.
To celebrate Christmas but not receive the number one gift God has for you is pointless. The invitation is wide open. Simply believe and receive.
MAKE IT PERSONAL
Think about your Christmas plans. What can you do to emphasise to your family and friends that God’s ultimate gift was sending his son to die for them?