The Perfect Gift

James 2:1-4 says:

2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4, NKJV)

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year to remind us to focus on Jesus. If we focus on ourselves, we might linger on past defeats, the pressures of life, or lost loved ones. If we focus too much on others, we could be unfairly burdened by their expectations or our inability to effectively change their circumstances. But, focusing on Jesus is the key to an evangelistic and spiritually enlightening Christmas. We could give a lot of things for Christmas, but the gift that lasts is Jesus Christ. Only He can save souls and change lives forever.

If I had a million dollars, I could temporarily bless quite a few people, but soon the money would be gone and life’s cares would be right back on them. If I had the cure for cancer, I would run to a cancer ward and cure everyone there. God has given us eternal life from the moment we received Him as Lord and Savior. That gift, if it was just for us, would immediately transport us to heaven. However, it is not just for us to keep and to hide for ourselves. It is for us to share in the hopes that others may know of our Savior and be saved. James 2:1 says, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.” Don’t hold it! Give it away!!

As we begin to understand the need to give our faith to others, we need to also understand that we cannot be partial to certain people. We cannot pick and choose who we give the offer of salvation to. Verses 2-4 explains how it is in our nature to size people up before we give them Jesus. We think, “This person is nice and looks and acts like me. I will tell them about Jesus.” Or we think, “This person is different than me. I don’t think they would accept My Jesus.” Satan would love to talk us out of witnessing to everyone. Either they are poor and not worthy, or they are rich, and we are not worthy to speak to them about such matters. Who are we to judge?

This Christmas, transform your thinking and realize everyone needs Jesus. Also realize that God sent you, yes you, to tell each person you meet about His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ. What do you think Jesus wants for His birthday? Jesus would love for more souls to be saved. You and I are blessed by God to be a part of this Good News. Share it with reckless abandon and without prejudging those who may be saved. Don’t hold onto your faith, release it so that it can do its job. If we give ourselves wholly to Jesus Christ’s great commission, the world around us will be changed forever and souls will be changed. Let’s go and make a difference, not just at Christmas time, but all year long. Give the greatest gift, the gift of salvation.

Merry Christmas.

Your Brother-in-Christ,

Pastor Rob