Advent object lessons - presents!

Did ya notice that the calendar flipped a page?
It would be rather difficult to be unaware of the fact that it's December, right? (Grin) Between the commercials and the stores packed with Christmas decorations and gifts, there's a tsunami of merchandising going on.....

I'd like to make our studies this month a respite from that onslaught. A time of peace, of thoughtfulness, and of prayerful gratitude. I'll be posting what some people call "object lessons." That's when we take an inanimate object that is tied into the Christmas scene and think about it differently. I hope all who pause here will find a blessing.

Today, let's think about presents. You know where I'm going, here, right? (Grin)
Gaily wrapped packages are everywhere. Sitting on shelves, under the branches of the Christmas tree, even in the driveway....if the commercials are to be believed, many people will wake on Christmas to find a new car festooned with ribbon in their driveway!
What's the most expensive gift you ever received for Christmas?
What's the most expensive gift you ever gave?
Some people today actually go into debt buying gifts they can't afford to give. And sometimes they are for people they are not fond of. I guess they're keeping up appearances..... some folks feel the need to tell the recipient how much the gift cost. Personally, I like the handcrafted gifts the best, but that's just me. It tells me that the giver invested of himself or herself, instead of grabbing something off a shelf in a store full of frantic people!

We have some examples of great gift-giving in the Bible. There are many times that God gifted ordinary people with extraordinary capabilities, and presented them with opportunities for greatness. There are many times that God blessed people above all measure.
This time of year, though, many people recall the gifts of the Magi, or "wise men."  The gifts they packed and brought reflected the value that they placed on the wee babe in the manger. Gold....frankincense....myrhh.
Gold is classic, right? It's always been the standard of commerce and a signal of wealth. It's the most valued of all the metals; it's the top of the line.
Frankincense is a bit more symbolic. True, it was valuable, but it was a spiritual gift, too. Many cultures used it as an aid in worship. The incense was fragrant, and rose into the air as smoke, and was perceived by the faithful as the pleasant smell of their prayers in the nostrils of God.
Myrhh was medicinal, and also spoke of death. The valuable oil was an affirmation of prophesy - that the child would be for the healing of nations, and that His death would be powerful for all.
Further on in the New Testament, we see the tiny bottle of perfumed ointment that Mary poured on the Savior. Worth thousands in our current day, she showed everyone in dramatic terms that she valued Him and wanted to give the best, to give all that she had.

God has given great gifts before.
Humans have given fine and great gifts, too.
God gave the greatest gift that could be given: Jesus. Why? Because of the value that He placed on us. Jesus is the best and greatest gift..... because He is what we need most. Remember what He told the Samaritan woman?

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10, 13-14)

God's gift of our Savior is the greatest gift because He is better than we deserve.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God ... (Ephesians 2:8) 

We don't have an infinite amount of time on this earth. We need to be telling others about this great gift! It's not automatic.
We must first choose to receive it.

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:8)

It is indeed a gift for everyone:

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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

Receiving this special gift is not optional:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:36)

And it's our responsibility to share that gospel! With our families. With our friends. With faraway people, through giving and praying.
When we happy dance through the gates of heaven, we may be met with people from lands far from our homes that heard about God's gift because we prayed. We may receive appreciation from some in places we've never heard of, because of our giving. Hopefully, our families and friends will be dancing and praising along with us there.
It's up to us.
God gave the greatest gift He had.
Shouldn't we share it with others?