She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means God with us).

~Matthew 1:21-23 NIV

There’s nothing quite like the gift of a boy. 

My Gift

A few years back, my youngest son wrapped a Christmas gift for me and placed it under the tree. He used camouflage gift wrap with matching duct tape. He signed his name on the deer-decorated gift tag. I smiled because he signed using his nickname JT, which he claims not to like. He even told us when he was younger not to call him that because his real nickname was Camaro. We humored him for a little while, but Camaro never really stuck. He really is a pure boy.

God ensured that when we received all three of our boys, we would have no idea what He’d wrapped up and given to us. Each is special in their own way and a gift.

I had no idea what the camouflage gift box contained. I thought it was a cardboard box he’d saved to disguise the true present. He didn’t want me guessing if it might be a bottle of perfume, which I had hinted would make a good gift for dear ole’ mom.

But when I opened the gift on Christmas Eve, it wasn’t what I thought. It wasn’t even something I’d told him I wanted. It was something he wanted to give me. A kitchen appliance. A more expensive gift. And something I needed.

The World’s Gift

So many years ago, the world also waited to receive the gift of a boy. Only this present could never be bought. This baby boy wrapped in swaddling clothes was God wrapped in human flesh, given to save us. It was a more expensive gift than we could imagine and not exactly what we expected. But it was something we needed.

God came camouflaged in human flesh, fully God and fully man. The gift giver is also the gift.

We can become so busy amid the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season that we forget the wonder of it all. How incredible it is that God would give us such a gift. He made a way for us to enter a right relationship with Him through His beloved Son.

Through Jesus, we receive many wonderful things: forgiveness of sins, grace and mercy, and eternal life in Heaven.

Therefore, seek and find the Savior this Christmas as the wise men and shepherds did long ago. There’s a gift with your name on it, wrapped and waiting for you to discover what’s inside. Jesus, the gift of a boy.

Celebrate the wonder of it all this Christmas.

Father, thank you for sending Jesus, the best gift I could ever receive. In His name, amen.

 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2024: The Gift of a Boy: Melinda Eye Cooper: All Rights Reserved