King Duncan writes about the small boy who “was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless, he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. His father met him in the living room and said nothing.

“At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father’s full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed. The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew up, he said, ‘All my life I’ve known what God is like by what my father did that night.’”²

We, too, can know what God is like by what Jesus did for us when he came to earth as a babe in Bethlehem and then to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins so we can be freely forgiven and receive God’s gift of eternal life to be with him in heaven forever.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for your great love gift to me at Christmas time some 2000 years ago in giving your Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all my sins through his death on the cross so that I could receive your gift of forgiveness and eternal life? Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 5:8 (NIV).

2. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com.