A few years ago a friend shared with me the story about the young boy who wanted a bicycle for Christmas. All the other kids in the neighborhood had bikes. He wanted a bike. The boy's mother, trying to be helpful, encouraged her son to pray to God about this request. So that's what he did. "Dear Jesus, could You see to it that I get a bicycle? All my friends have one. Amen."
Each night the boy prayed the same prayer. But the praying didn't seem to help. How could he be sure God would give him the gift that he wanted the most? Then the youngster got an idea.
When his mother wasn't looking, the boy snuck into the living room, found the little manger scene which was set up under the Christmas tree, and put the statue of Mary in his pocket. He rushed to his room, closed the door and knelt by the bed. He prayed: "Jesus, if you want to see Your mother again, I'd better get that bike!"
This kid brings new meaning to the phrase, "Desperate times call for desperate measures!"
The good news for us is that God is without peer when it comes to gift-giving. His gift of the Christ-child is a prime example of how God gives to you and me.
*In love - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son...(John 3:16)
*Freely - "It is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves, it it the gift of God..." (Ephesians 2:8)
*Perfectly - "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:5)
It seems like every Christmas there is always one gift that has to be returned - wrong size, wrong shape or wrong color. Praise God for His "one size fits all" gift of "eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 6:23)
