The holiday season is the best one of the entire year in my opinion. This unrivaled time of year includes time with family, time with friends, there seems to be more opportunities to eat large amounts of food around this time and then the best day of the year: Christmas Day.

We have an unparalleled, childlike amazement thinking of it. But why? The spontaneity of driving past houses enveloped in beautiful lights? The nonstop Christmas music that begins (for some), "way too early"? Maybe it's the idea that we hope Christmas Day will be filled with presents of all sorts: the gift that's reappeared on your Christmas list for the 4th year in a row, a surprise that you have no idea is coming or a special call from a loved one. It might be something else for you-- I'm not sure what it is for you that triggers your inner childlike giddiness, but for me, it's a mixture of all of the above.

The excitement of gifts. The putting together of a Christmas list, having your mind set on something specific and counting down the days until we get to see if we've received the present. I understand the feeling of desperately wanting a gift, planning your entire Christmas list around it and then waking up on Christmas morning to walk into the living room and not see it sitting under the tree. Sure, you're grateful for the other gifts that you've received, but you can't get that one gift out of your mind because of the idea that you longed for it so intensely. Santa simply didn't come through, but we're still happy with our other gifts. Well, if we had planned out our entire list based off of this one thing, and didn't receive it, what value do the other items on the list even have? What's a new remote controllable toy car without a remote control? What's a brand new 50-inch television without some sort of power connection to actually turn on the TV?

In the same way, we've received the most incredible gift that anyone could have ever imagined. A gift that not just our Christmas list, but our lives can be entirely planned around, yet we often decide not to open it. We have the "remote control" and the "power connection," but we often choose not to use them. It sounds somewhat silly, doesn't it? If such an amazing gift was given to us, why wouldn't we take every opportunity to dive into it and utilize it for everything it's worth?

This gift was the death of Jesus Christ on the cross so that we could have eternal life. This means that even though we as humans should receive death after every sin according to Romans 6:23, we read in Romans 5:8 that "...while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us." THAT is a gift. Something that we didn't have on a list, we didn't have our entire lives planned around, but we freely received it. The Lord came down and WILLINGLY surrendered Himself so that we'd be able to spend eternity in Heaven with Him, better explained in John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” How's that for a gift?

Jesus was born roughly around December 25th (see URL below for more history on why December 25 is known as the birthdate of Jesus), representing the reason for the entire season. This Holiday season, ensure that you're taking the time to appreciate time with loved ones, reflect on this childlike amazement that comes around once a year and remember why we celebrate this season. He is the reason. The greatest gift of all.