Pastor Jeff Cranston

I wonder how many acres of wrapping paper and miles of ribbon are used in wrapping up our Christmas presents? It must be an astronomical number! I’m sure that, combined, they would encircle the globe many times over. The heaps of paper and ribbon remind us that it is Christmas time. And it is in our presents, and in all of the efforts we make to secure them for friends and loved ones, that we find the heart of the season.

Like so many other exciting and exhilarating things, wrapping paper and ribbons look commonplace enough; yet, in reality, they embody all the tenderness and sacredness of Christmas time. The joyful emotions felt by both the giver and the receiver of the gifts, represent the essence of peace, goodwill, and joy of which the angelic choristers sang. What is it that we sing around this time each year?

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see,

Hail the Incarnate Deity!

A friend tells me he has an old hymnal in which those words are rendered:

Wrapped in flesh, the Godhead see,

Hail the Incarnate Deity!

Wrapped in flesh! It’s the phraseology of the Christmas present! And it reminds us that God has become one of us and He came to save His people from their sins. What other sublime, eternal truth could bring us more joy than that?

Father, I pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy; give me more than I can hold, desire, or think of. Measure out to me my times and degrees of joy at my work, business, and duties. If I weep in the night give me joy in the morning. Bring me speedily to the land of Joy. Through Christ, my Lord. Amen. - A Puritan prayer