Aww! More underware?!

Yes! Christmas day is finally upon you. As you race to the Christmas tree, your heart is filled with anticipation to see what Santa, your parents, the Great Pumpkin, or whomever, has left you. Eagerly, you rip through your gifts; certain that one of these packages is the Xbox 360 you've been dying to get or that Ipod your friend just got. But your excitement quickly turns into disappointment as you realize that the majority of your presents are underware. Underware?! You're kidding, right?! Who do your parents think they are?! With endless possibilities for gifts to choose from, these morons give you underware?! The nerve of them!

But, here's the part where I challenge you to look at the situation a bit differently:

Jesus (as a God's 'Christmas' gift to the world) reminds me of that underware that we used to complain about as children. Instead of receiving the video games, the bikes, or the toys that we wanted, we're stuck with some lousy underware. But, being blinded by what we wanted, we always seem quick to discount the value and the necessity of our Fruit of the Looms. I can imagine what people from Biblical times were imagining when they were promised Jesus. They were promised a Messiah. They envisioned a big and bold warrior who would gallop into the world on his white horse. They envisoned a man who was thunderous, graceful, and powerful enough to overthrow their Roman oppressors. But all they got was a poor and illegitimate kid who was born in a stable. A stable! You're joking, right?! The KING OF THE UNIVERSE being kept warm by the breath of a cow?! Wow! Some king!

Little did they know, this stable-born lad would go on to do some pretty cool things. You know... like raising dead people, walking on water, giving sight to blind people, dying to save mankind from an endless life of suffering and torment in Hell. You know, simple stuff like that.

Although this kid who was born in a stable wasn't even close to what the people wanted, he sure as h-e-double hockey sticks was what they needed. That said, we as Christians, we must realize that although God's blessings may not come in the shape, size, wrapping or timeline that we want, we must never discount them. We will never be able to fully comprehend the significance of God's gifts to us. God's gifts are immeasurable and priceless. Last I checked, they weren't selling salvation at Marshall Fields, or Wal-mart. Salvation is a gift which will run circles around an Xbox any day of the week. Let's keep that in mind this holiday season.

And please...please be thankful for the underware!

May God's grace be with you this holiday season!

- ACL