Christmas - The Gift of Life

        Before I begin, I wanna wish all my friends and family out there a very Merry Christmas! A big shout out to everyone who supported me through 2006. Those of you who were not afraid to tell me the things I need to hear, those of you who spent hours praying for me through tough times, those of you who took the extra step so that I didn't have to, those of you who took care of me - I wanna say thank you from the bottom of my heart. May God continue to bless you and your families abundantly.

        Christmas. Indeed, it is the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas trees, roast turkey, reindeers, santa, presents, shopping, and jingling bells. The list goes on and on. But I've just been thinking a little about Christmas and the one person that makes Christmas different from any other religious festival...Jesus.

        For me as a Christian, Christmas is the time of the year when I celebrate the birth of my Lord Jesus Christ. In the gospel of Matthew, it is written about Jesus:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us" - Matthew 1:22

The person who wrote the statement above was one of Jesus' deciples, and hence lived during the same time as Jesus. He was merely recording what had happened.

        But about 600 years before that, a prophet by the name of Isaiah had already prophesied the birth of Jesus:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given..." - Isaiah 9:6

        To some, Jesus maybe a distant deity or a good moral teacher...but the Bible is clear about who Jesus Christ is. The Bible was not a book written by someone who had too much time on his hands...neither was it written because the people of Israel needed story book as entertainment.  It was written by many different authors and was written as a record of Israel's history. Time and again the Bible points out the person of Jesus.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" - John 3:16

        During Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. With Him, comes the gift of salvation from God in Heaven. A gift that cannot be bought with all the money in the world. A gift paid for with flesh and blood.

        So, on this day I wanna say, "thank you" to God in Heaven...thank you so much for your priceless gift...and Happy Birthday to my precious Lord Jesus!

Comments

[YueLi]

Merry Christmas Andrew, very well written post! Not forgetting the true reason behind the season!

How did you guys celebrate Christmas? Post some pics, was it cold and rainy in syd? or hot? i saw aus snow on tv! ok maybe it was tasmania...but still snow :p

Ok lah, say hi to everyone for me yea? and did u get pics from girl? do i still need to send it to you guys?

Ashley

[- Nydia -]

hei.. do have a blessed christmas ya..

and YEP.. a very very well written post
:)

enjoy ur hols with ur family k?? and help me send my regards to ur family..

take care.. see ya soon!! :)