Luke 2:11-12(NIV)

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Children and Christmas just seem to go together. Even the marketing strategists are aware of this.  And what Christmas program is complete without the children’s choir singing, “Away in a Manger?” What would Christmas morning be without children waking up early to see what is under the tree? And what Christmas gatherings are planned without children in mind? So many of our memories of Christmas have to do with children.

One of my memories as a child is my cousins and I lining up the open stairway that overlooked my grandparents’ living room while the gifts were being opened. All of the cousins would stake out their positions on the stairway as the festivities began. The room was electric as my grandfather would read the Christmas story from the Bible. It was clear the whole event was planned around the children. It just seemed like the way it was meant to be.

Let us not forget that the first Christmas was all about a child and a gift. The whole event is centered around a child, the Messiah. And when the wise men brought their gifts they were bringing those gifts to a child yet the truth is that it was the child that was the gift. Jesus was and is the greatest gift this world has ever received and it’s this child, God’s gift to the world, that we celebrate at Christmas.

So when you think of the children at your Christmas gatherings this year, think of the great gift God gave to us on that first Christmas. The child that was born for us is the greatest gift.