Santa's Mistake

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” –Ephesians 2:8-9

Santa’s got it all wrong!

"He’s making a list and checking it twice. Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice."

And if you’re naughty, you get a lump of coal in your stocking.

Or, if you live in the Netherlands, you get kidnapped by Sinterklaas’s assistant, Black Piet, and forced to work as a slave on his pirate ship off the coast of Spain for a year.

Santa’s harsh in Holland!

But gifts, by definition, are neither earned nor deserved. They are given!

I’m thankful that God didn’t make a list and check it twice before sending Jesus to us. Instead, God looked down at all his naughty children—through all of history: past, present, and future—and God chose to send them the gift of His physical Presence among them, and this Physical Presence showed us what God is like and how He wants us to live, then He made it possible for us to receive the gift of salvation, the gift of eternity in God’s Presence—an eternity of enjoying the incomprehensible glory of God!

Our behavior had nothing to do with it. God gave the best Gift ever out of His great love.

“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.” –John 3:16

I’m thankful that God sent Jesus instead of a lump of coal, and that Jesus sets us free from sin instead of leaving us as slaves because of it.

Thank You, Father, for the gifts of Your love, Your Son, life with You now, and eternity to come. May my life express my gratitude as my small gift of love to You. Jesus makes it possible. Thank You, Lord. Amen.