The One Gift We Really Need
From Childhood Wishes to Lasting Fulfillment in Christ
Christmas Lists
Do you still make a Christmas list? Perhaps you receive one from your kids. As a child, I remember wanting a skateboard so badly that it went straight to the top of my list. I just had to have one, and sure enough, I got one! I played with it for a couple of days, realized how much I disliked it, and went back to riding my bike. As soon as I got that one thing that I just had to have, I found myself moving on to something new very quickly. Do you remember that one thing that you desperately had to have for Christmas as a kid?
Sometimes our kids ask us for something, and we know it will be an absolute waste of money. They don’t need it. It will break. It will get lost. It will never last. And yet we get it for them because we love them and want to try and make them happy.
Question: Do you, as an adult, still find yourself wishing for that one thing? It may not be a skateboard but perhaps you’ve wished for something, thinking you will find contentment or purpose in it. Can those things be found in a Christmas gift?
Solomon, one of the wisest men in history, wrote to us at the end of his life about all the foolish mistakes he had made pursuing his one thing. He tried to find meaning and value in his life in all the wrong things and in all the wrong places. He wrote about going down every path imaginable, searching for more. Like Solomon, we often wander down paths searching for meaning and purpose.
King Solomon wrote after having obvious success that each of those paths were all dead ends. He was incredibly successful in every way that you and I would hope to be in our lives. He had great wealth, built lavish structures and accumulated countless possessions. He denied himself no pleasure. Yet here he is at the end of his life passing on wisdom to us, stating: These things are not it! All of his wealth, status, and possessions did not bring him fulfillment.
Solomon wrote to us, generously warning us to be smarter than he was. It reminds me of the quote: “Smart people learn from their mistakes, but truly wise people learn from the mistakes of others.”
I believe my parents knew in their hearts that a skateboard was not going to have a permanent place in my life, but they bought it for me because they wanted to make my Christmas morning special. God, our heavenly Father, has given us the ultimate Christmas gift - HIS SON! It is through Him that we find the hope, fulfillment, purpose, and meaning that we are all truly searching for.
“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
Our purpose is not found in things that we attain. It is found in a relationship with Jesus. Born that night was everything that you and I need to make it in this life. He is Emmanuel - God with us!
This Christmas season, I hope you get that one thing and have a great time with your family. Most of all, my wish for you is that your fulfillment is found in Christ.
