12/21/2025
"Do not open until December 25th"
These instructions
attached to any
Christmas gift
only serve to add
to the delight of the present.
The beautiful wrapping
of ribbons and bows
do their part
to bring joy
to the recipient;
yet the sheerest form
of pleasure will be,
when at last,
the long awaited day arrives,
and the wrapping
is torn
to reveal
the treasure hidden inside.
The world’s
greatest gift
arrived with these
same instructions.
Wrapped in
swaddling clothes,
the baby born
in a manager
that first Christmas Eve
brought great joy
to Joseph and Mary,
the shepherds and the wise men.
Yet,
the time
for the opening
of this gift
had not yet arrived.
"Do not open until . . .
The appointed time
for the revelation
of this Heavenly present
had nothing to do
with Christmas
and everything to do
with the cross.
. . . . Calvary."
It wasn’t until the cross,
that our precious Jesus,
wrapped in humanity
and surrendered
to the will of His Father,
was torn open
to reveal
the true treasure inside:
the Messiah,
our Saviour God,
in whom
we find
our forgiveness
and our salvation.
The baby was God's gift to mankind.
The cross was Jesus' gift.
His incomprehensible love
for you and me
held Him to the cross
while the soldiers
drove the nails
into His flesh,
ripping and tearing away
His humanity.
As each wound
was inflicted
upon His body,
His blood,
a ribbon of crimson,
flowed from His heart
straight to ours,
loosening the grip of sin.
As Jesus' humanity
was pierced and torn
to reveal His true divinity,
we, who were sinful,
were clothed
with His righteousness,
in spite
of our humanity.
As He breathed
His final breath
and spoke the words,
"It is finished",
we were given
our first eternal breath
and life
which knows no end.
The baby brought
anticipation,
excitement
and hope,
but the cross....
the cross brought victory!
What began
in Bethlehem
was finished
at the cross.
Christmas reminds us
sin has a cost
and God has a love
that knows no limit.
His only Son,
born to die,
that we who
deserve to die,
might live.~❤
~Stacy L. Sanchez
