Monday, December 19, 2011

December 20, 2011

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

I wanted the GI Joe Commando Kit that Christmas but I got new socks and underwear instead.

That is what happened growing up in a family with lots of kids and limited cash. Christmas usually was about getting what you needed not what you wanted. But, what kid really knows what he wants anyway – not to mention what he needs.

My mom understood that I needed to have enough underwear that I could always wear a clean pair. As you well know, it is essential to always be sporting a clean pair of undies in case you happened to be in a car accident,

Parents know better what their children need and place a higher priority on needs than wants. They are better at distinguishing wants from needs that children are. So is God! That is what Christmas is all about!
Christmas was God sending us exactly what we needed – A SAVIOR! We needed salvation and God had a Son Who would come to be our Savior.

We didn’t ask for a Savior. We thought we could save ourselves.

We didn’t know that we needed a Savior. We thought we were good enough to save ourselves. In fact, many religious people thought they already had salvation because they were born into God’s chosen people, the Jews. They foolishly believed they could keep the Commandments and earn their salvation.



What they wanted from God was credit for their “righteousness”. God sent them what they needed, the Christ! There was desperate spiritual need they couldn’t meet and God wanted to meet that need. Christmas proves how much God wanted to meet man’s need for salvation from sin.

Now that I am older and wiser I am a little better at knowing the difference between my wants and needs. I know I need salvation and I know I want Jesus as my Savior. He is the point where my need and my want join in faith. When I stopped living by what I wanted and accepted what I needed, I got them both in Him!

Have you acknowledged your need of salvation? Have you confessed that you are a sinner and you need to be saved? Do you know for sure that if you were to die before you finish reading this article that you would immediately find yourself in Heaven? If you are not sure, do you want to be?

You need to be!