Discover the Real Gift of ChristmasSample

You’re Not Reading This by Accident

“But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.” Romans 3:24 (CEV)

You’re not reading this by accident.

No, God knew before you were born that you would be here at this moment. He planned to get your attention for just a few seconds so he could say something like this to you: “I’ve seen every hurt in your life, and I’ve never stopped loving you. You matter to me. I love you more than you will ever know. I made you to love you, and I’ve been waiting for you to love me back.”

The Bible says God sent his Son to earth as the greatest gift ever. He came to die and make you right with God. Romans 3:24 says, “But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins” Romans 3:24 (CEV).

God is essentially saying, “I want the rest of your life to be the best of your life. I’m with you, and I’m for you. I want to save you from your past. I want to save you for the purpose for which I made you. And I want to save you by my grace. If you’ll let me do that, I will give you peace with me, peace in your life, and peace with other people. But you have to open the door and receive the Christmas gift.”

Jesus Christ is God’s Christmas gift to you. How? Let’s go back to the basics.

• Nobody’s perfect. I’ve never met a single person who is perfect, and neither have you. I don’t measure up to my own expectations, much less God’s perfect standard—and neither do you. We’ve all blown it. The Bible says, “All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23 CEV).
• God is just. God wants to be fair. When somebody breaks a law, there must be a penalty for it. When you break man’s laws, you pay man’s penalty. When you break God’s laws, you pay God’s penalties. The Bible says, “The payment for sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NCV).
• Jesus paid the price for our sin. The Living Bible Paraphrase says, “God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took on my sin, your sin, and all the sins that have ever been committed. That’s the Good News, the gospel. Jesus paid the price you could never pay.
• Accept God’s free gift. God offers us the free gift of salvation because Jesus took upon himself our sin—but it’s a gift we must choose to receive. The Bible says, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 NIV).

Some of us have gone Christmas after Christmas and never opened the best gift of all: God’s gift of salvation.

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus and committed to following him, why wait any longer? It’s one thing to understand the basics of how to have a relationship with Jesus. It’s another to accept the gift.

If you’re ready to make peace with your Creator, then pray this prayer:

“Dear Jesus, I don’t want my sin to separate me from you any longer. You promised that if I believe in you, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess my sin, and I believe you are my Savior. You promised that if I confess my sin and trust you, I will be saved. I trust you when you say salvation comes by grace, through faith, and not by anything I do. I receive you into my life as my Lord. Today, I’m turning over every part of my life to your management.

“I want to live the way you created me to live and use the rest of my life to serve you instead of serving myself. I commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

This devotional © 2024 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.