An Unexpected Gift

Written by Jim Greenlee

I once received a Christmas present as a mid-teen that I found a little embarrassing. Here I was a big boy, and a well-meaning family member had given me a child’s basketball! It looked like the real thing, but was only one-third the size. How could I show that to my friends without becoming the laughing stock of the neighborhood? Well, sure enough, my pals began to drop by on Christmas afternoon to check out my stuff. One of them, a star player on our school basketball team, spotted the ball and enquired as to its owner. Expecting the worst, I admitted to ownership. He was delighted! He was excited! In no time, we had set up a couple of little makeshift nets outside and were playing miniature basketball! Often, he and others came over and my ball was used in many a side yard game.

As I thought of this Christmas gift that I had discounted, I thought of the scripture where Jesus is referred to as “the stone that the builder rejected, and the same becoming the Cornerstone.” To those who did not believe, He was a fraud, a blasphemer, and an embarrassment. However, to those who responded in faith to His message of hope and repentance, He was the power of God unto salvation!

Like me, a boy soon very proud of his little basketball, so is a sinner who comes in repentance to the Lord a most powerful witness for Him. Remember the Apostle Paul? So then, let’s you and I tell out with gladness the Christmas message to all who will listen:

Christ the Savior is born! Let Him be born in you today!