The Exchange Gift

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten sonWhen I was a child, the Christmas party at school was wonderful- food , games and the gift exchange. I loved the gift giving time, and couldn’t wait to show "my gift" to my sister.As I grew older the school exchange was erased from my life, but resurfaced as our family grew. With the marriage of siblings, birth of children, and limited finances of all involved, our family decided to participate in the family gift exchange program for Christmas giving. I always hoped the gift I gave would at least match up in worth to the one I received, so I wouldn’t be embarrassed or outdone. I wanted things to be "equal," more or less.

I experienced another gift exchange in my life and it was so unbalanced it is hard to believe . This exchange transpired when I believed and accepted the fact that Jesus had died for my sins. I gave him my sins, and He gave me His goodness and forgiveness. How totally unbalanced is that ? I got everything wonderful and gave him my bag of sinful garbage. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us. What a swap that was! How loving a God we have- one who was willing to allow His son to smell the stench of sin and suffer the pain of bearing it so that we could be reconciled with Him, our heavenly Father.

If you have never participated in a Christmas exchange, I encourage you to do so. Accept the gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin that Christ himself will give you. It is certainly not an even exchange, but one that He offers with love so profound it is beyond our understanding.

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Contributed by Marion Smith
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