Christmas: The Greatest GiftSample

I knew it was wrong, but I picked up Sean’s guitar, his prized possession, anyway. He was away at class, and the temptation to gain some cred from my freshman friends by mocking him behind his back was irresistible. So I put on my best Sean-face and strummed out several hard notes.

Then a string snapped, and I froze.

My friends burst into laughter, but I stood there like an animal in a trap. Perhaps you know the feeling — you’ve said or done something you immediately regretted, and inescapable guilt washed over you. You couldn’t hide or change the situation. You were caught in the wrong, exposed.

According to the Bible, the Old Testament law was given to produce a similar effect. It lays out a standard of righteousness impossible to achieve. It shows how good God is and, by stark contrast, how short we fall.

When you know the right things to do and continually fail to do them, you end up feeling cornered and exposed, like I did holding Sean’s guitar. The standards of the law become like an avalanche: each instruction a cascading snowball, falling one after another until you’re buried beneath the staggering weight of the law’s curse.

Yet embedded within the law are hints that we, who continually fall short, don’t need to be the ones who bear that weight. These hints include the Passover, the sacrificial system, and the many references to God’s mercy on those who turned to Him and away from wickedness. The Old Testament anticipates the truth stated so clearly in Galatians 3:13, that a curse-bearer is our hope and help. And this hope is the reason we celebrate today: Jesus Christ has come. Our shame has been transferred to Jesus, and through His forgiveness, we are free. Once and for all, sin is crushed and death is defeated (Hebrews 10:10,18).

Reflect

What words, deeds, and mistakes create a crushing weight on you? Share these with God. If you’ve never asked Jesus to come into your life and receive His gift of forgiveness, I invite you to consider accepting His free gift today. He took on the penalty for all our sins.

Pray

Lord, thank You for sending Jesus to become my curse-bearer. Please forgive me for the things that I have done. I am so grateful to have a personal relationship with You, my Creator, my Savior, my Father. Thank You for taking the burden of my mistakes and failures and, in exchange, making me blameless and pure. Help me to accept Your gift of forgiveness and freedom.