Most of the guests were busy opening the gifts they had brought. They were exchanging with one another. Some clutched their gifts to themselves and others were on the floor gleefully playing with the gifts that they had brought for the guest of honor.

Tears began to run down Joshua’s saddened face. The father’s kindly face turned angry and perplexed. With tears in his eyes, the father, with broken voice and heart, said, “I’m sorry son. I guess they forgot whose birthday it is.”

I love giving and receiving gifts at Christmas. But this Christmas we need to pause and ask ourselves “Whose birthday is it anyway?” If it is Jesus’ birthday we are celebrating, what gift are you going to give to Him? Why do we give one another gifts? After all it’s His birthday we celebrate. Jesus is the reason for the season!

God gave the world His greatest gift – His son! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

The Son of God, born in obscure Bethlehem, in a cold still stable, of a virgin mother, gave himself as a ransom for the sin of the world. The angel announced His birth, “For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
The wise men, magi from the east, followed a star to where the Christ child was lay. They worshipped Him and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold spoke of His deity. The frankincense and myrrh spoke of His sacrifice and death for the sins of the world.

What gifts do you bring to Jesus this Christmas? Have you given Him your heart and life? “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice, and opens unto me, I will come into him, and sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
Have you given Jesus your worship as the wise men did on bended knee? What gift do you give to Jesus? After all, whose birthday is it anyway?

Jesus said that when you feed the hungry, minister to the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, minister to the orphans and widows, “. . . Insomuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:34-46)
When you buy and exchange gifts this Christmas, ask yourself “What did I give to Jesus?” Perhaps we should forego our own wants and wishes and dedicate our gifts to Jesus. Possibly giving to your church missions projects, to a food pantry, to a hurting or needful neighbor or friend, a homeless shelter, the angel tree for the children of prisoners, the Right to Life program, a crisis pregnancy center, or victims of violence in their homes. What about being a big brother or sister to a fatherless child or ringing bells for the Salvation Army?

Ask God “What can I give to you in love, honor, and worship of the Christ of Christmas?” The most important thing is your life. May Christ’s gift of death on a cruel cross for your sins and mine not be in vain for you and others who pass Him by while giving gifts to themselves without thought of Christ.

You can experience the true joy of Christmas:

A. Admit you have sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

B. Believe in Jesus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

C. Confess and leave your sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)