SCRIPTURAL BASIS
Responding to the Gift of Jesus
Reclaiming Our Focus
In Revelation, Jesus tells John to commend the church at Ephesus for their “deeds, hard work and perseverance,” but also to warn them because they have abandoned their first love. They are enjoying some level of success, but they are simply “going through the motions” of a Christian life—doing things they have always done for the sake of church tradition, not out of love for God.
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” (Revelation 2:2-5 NIV)
We find this superficial condition vividly illustrated during the Christmas holiday season through purely ornamental and “ritualistic” Christmas concerns. These activities exhaust and distract us without connecting us to the true meaning of the season. We see this tendency in the trend toward more secular and “politically-correct” décor, an emphasis on the Santa myth, party-going and entertaining out of obligation, and frenzied attempts to find or assemble the “perfect” gifts.
Jesus is the Gift activities encourage us to reconnect with that original zeal for our Savior through meaningful observances—personal and corporate activities that restore our relationship with God, build our faith and edify others. And so what was once a duty becomes electrified by the full joy and power of Christ, as God intended.