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What Would Jesus Want?
Brian Mashburn
December 13, 2015
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What Would Jesus Want?
At Christmas, people all over the world will go to great lengths to acknowledge and celebrate the birth of Jesus.
The tradition of gift-giving during this time has become central, turning all of us into a type of Santa Claus. Whether in our heads, in ink, or in phones, we start making a list and checking it twice. Who do we need to give gifts to, and what do we think they would like? It's fun, if not sometimes stressful.
But have you ever stopped to think about the fact that Christmas is the only time where, instead of giving the birthday boy gifts, we give them to everyone else?
It's his birthday, after all. Imagine if every Christian invested everything they spent at Christmas strictly into gifts for him. I like thinking about it in this way, but it brings up another dilemma: What would you give him?
What do you get for someone who has everything? Whether because of wealth or contentment, there are those people in our lives that have everything they want. So when their birthday comes around, trying to figure out what to get them is tough, and all the more with Christ, the Author and Creator of Everything.
So, it would be helpful to know what Jesus wants.
There is only one place where I can find Jesus declaring directly what he wants. He wants you to be with him. Sin and all, for God's greatest glory, and for your greatest joy, Jesus wants you to be with him. (John 17:24)
How appropriate that the Christmas name for Jesus is "Immanuel" which means "God with us." For this reason he was born. And it is all he wants for his birthday.