The Ultimate Gift Exchange
Merry Christmas Greetings!
Here’s wishing you health and peace and harmony in your life.
For many of us, it’s a time of exchanging gifts. You know the gig. There’s a jolly ol’ guy in a red suit who slings a big red sack over his shoulder and brings us gifts. For those that don’t know, name Santa Claus is a derivative of Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for Saint Nickolas, a Christian bishop of Greek heritage born in the 3rd Century. He lived during the closing century of the Roman Empire, and we’re told he had a habit of secretly giving gifts to people in need.
History tells us the Romans actually imprisoned Nickolas. Why? Because Christianity taught that we should worship God, while the Romans held that their Caesar was to be worshipped. It wasn’t until Caesar Constantine converted to Christianity that Christian prisoners were released. And with that, over time, the generosity of Saint Nickolas became a legend. That led to the Dutch characterization of Sinterklaas, which led to the story of Santa. And that’s the origins of our jolly ol’ elf with a sack slung over his shoulder bringing gifts.
Today we are told that Christmas is a time for celebrating the birth of Jesus. Turns out we really don’t know when Christ was born, although most historians now believe that Jesus was actually born sometime in early fall, most likely September.
But – coincidently, round about the same decade Saint Nickolas was set free from prison, Pope Julius 1st decided that people needed to celebrate the birth of Christ. Up until that time, everyone was content to celebrate His rising from the dead – which we now celebrate as Easter – because Jesus rising from the dead gave us access to a new agreement between man and God: salvation through faith in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
The pope’s rationale for choosing December 25 is debated, and I won’t get into the various theories, but suffice it to say we can thank Pope Julius 1st for arbitrarily choosing December 25.
And I like to say – instead of Jesus carrying a sack over his shoulder with gifts for everyone, he carried a cross on his shoulder, and He provided one gift for everyone: eternal life with God in heaven through faith in the redeeming blood of Jesus.
It was the ultimate gift exchange. He gave his life on the cross to buy back all of humanity. He gives you eternal life if you place your trust in that fact.
The thing to remember is you WILL have eternal life … what everyone needs to think about is location, location, location.
Think about it. Eternal life WITH God and all that He is: love, peace, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and healing. Eternal joy. And so much more.
OR, eternal life without God. Zero love. Not even a drop. And absolutely no peace. Instead, an eternity of pain and suffering, no mercy, no grace, no forgiveness, no healing. Only despair. Forever.
The choice is up to each of us. It’s like what God said in Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 19 –
“I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life."
God essentially told us we have a choice and there’s only two options. And, like any loving father who doesn’t want his kids to lose, He tells us the choice we need to make to have the ultimate victory. He does this because He loves us and He wants us to be with him.
Forever.
So choose life.
The gift of eternal life with God is the best gift ever. All you have to do is receive it.
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Get more from Daniel Bobinski at http://www.KeeptheRepublic.us
Merry Christmas, Daniel!