I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, the anticipation that built the month before Christmas morning was something I always looked forward to! My brother, sister and I would tear through our gifts and we were so excited to play with our new toys! That special day would pass all too quickly, and the next day an empty feeling would set in. How could I possibly feel this way after all of the excitement that built up during the month of December? How could the jubilation be gone so quickly?
“"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
John 4:13-14
Treasures that we store up in this world will never satisfy or last. The true hope that Christmas has to offer is found somewhere else. We know the story of baby Jesus being born in an unlikely place and in an unlikely manner. We know that His birth is the greatest gift of all. We know that the wise men came bearing gifts for a king. We know that a star shone bright and was a symbol of the light of the world, that is Jesus. Ok, so now He is here, the King has come, is that all? No!
Now that Christmas has come and gone, along with the excitement and jubilation, I am still filled with hope and joy because the advent season has prepared my heart to receive an even greater gift! This is the gift of salvation and eternal life. Jesus was miraculously conceived. He came humbly into this world. Although he lived a life with daily temptations, He lived a life free of sin. Then He took on all of OUR sin as He hung on the cross and died a horrible and painful death as God turned His gaze away from His only son. His greatest punishment as he hung on the cross was separation from his Father in Heaven.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
“‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
The greatest gift of all and the only hope we have is found in Jesus! He satisfies our longing for more. He offers us an eternity spent with Him! Is your heart ready to receive Him? Will you say “yes” to the risen and living Savior? He is waiting for you. He is pursuing your heart. He loves you right where you are. All you have to do is believe it and receive it.
“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
“...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Romans 10:9-10
In Him,
Katie Karlson
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