The Free Gift

By Jane Welsh

Last month I was shopping at "Save On Foods" and I saw on the computer screen at the checkout that I had enough "Save On More points " for a free iPod. I wondered if there was a catch so I inquired at the Service Desk. No catch. More than that, I did not even have to order it. They had one there. In the box. Pristine perfect. What a gift I thought. A bonus from the groceries that I had to buy anyway. So I took my iPod home and then began to figure out how to use it. Well, I got so far and then when I could go no further in figuring it out, I had to phone the Customer service number printed on the little brochure in the box. The lady was helpful, up the point when she asked me to look for a certain icon on my computer. Three times I told her I could not see it. The lady must have had patience, because I was about to say the icon was not there a fourth time, when I saw it.
It had been there all the time.
I just could not see it.
There. Right in front of me.
At Christmas time we remember the free gift that God sent to us in the form of Jesus. To be born as a baby and to grow up and die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. God’s grace. Pristine perfect. The Perfect Gift. Up until the age of 22, Christmas time had just been another holiday for me. Then there came a time when I saw my need of Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. He had been there all the time. I just had not seen Him. There. Right in front of me.

There is a line in the Christmas carol, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" that says, "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail the incarnate Deity"

God became flesh. God became human. We see God in Jesus Christ.What a privilege we have to see and receive the free gift of salvation through God’s Son, Jesus.