The best gift of all

1 John 4:9 (TNIV)

⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

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Happy Christmas morning to you! May God’s abundant blessings be yours this morning as you wake to the celebration of the gift that changed humankind forever… God’s gift of God’s self to a dark and fearful world.

The word that strikes me most in the scripture passage above is the word “among.” According to the writer, God’s love was not revealed to us or by us, but was revealed among us. This reminds us that God’s intention from the beginning of time was to be part of our daily lives. Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve, “… heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze.” God’s proper place is HERE, among us, a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment part of our lives. Through God’s amazing gift of Jesus, God reminds us of his divine present-ness.

As we celebrate everything that this day has come to mean… the family traditions it embraces, the time of rest, the craziness and excess too… let us resolve to imitate God’s act of giving through the giving of ourselves in sacrificial service. Who will receive YOUR gift today?

— Rev. Russell Brown

Merciful and abundantly present God, thank you for giving us the awesome gift of yourself. Thank you for the ways you remind us of your love through our friends, our family, our church and through strangers. Today, let us bless the life of one other person by giving, not by a gift of goods or earthly treasures, but by a gift of ourselves. In Jesus’ holy name, AMEN.