Advent - the Gift DevotionalSample

“Receive the surprise gift”

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

When I was a boy, I used to do something that I’m not too proud of. When I figured out I was going to get gifts, I’d look all over our house till I found what I was going to get. My wife was even more deceitful about this. She told me she unwrapped all the presents under the tree for her and re-wrapped them!

I heard about one couple who took all the presents they were going to give their kids, and they hid them in their neighbor’s house. Then, the neighbors took all the presents they were going to give their kids and hid them in their house. On Christmas Day, when they opened their presents for the first time, they were surprised. Particularly, one little guy was shocked when he looked out the window and saw his buddy next door riding the bicycle he thought he was going to get!

Phillips Brooks, who wrote the lyrics to “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” was once asked, “What is Christmas?” He replied, “God came down the stairs of Heaven with a baby in His arms!” And that’s Christmas. Jesus Christ – God, gift-wrapped in flesh. No one saw it coming. It was the ultimate surprise gift from a loving God to a world that needed saving.