The Cost of Christmas

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Christmas is a mystery. Shoppers go to extremes to buy the perfect gift to show their love. Unfortunately, love often has a price tag. Many will buy low and attempt to "sell" it high when they give it. That's what Black Friday is all about. Buy the best/most expensive gifts at the lowest possible price. It makes us look like we give good gifts…when in fact, we are just cheap. Don't believe me? How do we react when a store has a price labeled or advertised wrong? It completely reverses the whole spirit of Christmas and the whole message of God's love for us through the gift of Christ.

You see, God gave us (presented) Christ at the lowest possible price. Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, born to an unwed, but engaged peasant. Born, then placed in a manger, an animal's food bowl. Don't forget, animals were not given fresh food, just baked for them. Animals received the scraps, left overs. Oh, and they aren't arranged on the plate so they aren't touching each other. Have you ever seen a bucket of scrap food before? The 8.6 lb baby Jesus was not wearing a golden fleece diaper (sorry Ricky Bobby) but instead, wrapped in scraps of cloth that did not smell like Tide or bleach. Scraps. If we saw a child in scraps of cloth today, what would we do? 

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 tells us that Christ will come and will not be regarded by men. He will be despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. (Please go back and read the whole text... seriously, I linked the text for you!)

Unlike our gifts, Christ was presented at the lowest possible price. Then when the time came, Christ paid the highest possible price. He gave His life.

1 John 3:1 tells us God has lavished His love on us. Just a few verses later John describes that love in 1 John 3:16 telling us that this is how we know what love is, that Christ laid down His life for us! 

This Christmas, my hope is that when we give gifts, we do so with love, not with price tags.

all about Christ,

David

*Picture taken from http://www.digitaltrends.com/guides/black-friday-survival-guide/