“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15
A missionary was on a remote island trying to explain the American way we celebrate Christmas to natives who had never heard of it before. He told them about the gift-giving and sharing. The next day, one of the natives came to him with a seashell. He looked at it. It was pretty common-looking, but he put it in his pocket, thanked the native, and went about his day. Later that afternoon, the missionary ran into some more natives and showed them the shell, and their eyes got big, and they said, “That shell is very rare! It comes from the other side of the island. It’s a five-mile, one-way walk to get to it over very rough, volcanic, rocky terrain. It’s dangerous to even get there. You need to really appreciate what the man had to walk through to get that gift to you.” So the next day, he returned and showed gratitude and appreciation to the man for all he had to do to bring the little shell to him. The native looked at him and said, "The long walk was part of the gift.”
So many times, we celebrate the gift and forget about the long walk people had to go through to get it to us. It’s the walk that’s a major part of the gift.
When we attend Christmas plays and look at the gift that’s lying in Bethlehem’s manger, it’s quite an awesome gift. But it was the long walk that made the gift special. It’s not just the baby; it’s the fact that He came all the way from heaven to the dirty earth. He was a King. The scriptures say, “He who was rich became poor so that we who are poor might become rich in His righteousness and grace.” When we picture Jesus hanging on the cross at Calvary, we may think of the great gift of salvation and forgiveness, but we must also remember the long walk He took from Gethsemane as His drops of sweat became blood. Part of the gift was the walk into Pilate’s hall, where He was beaten, a crown of thorns was shoved into His head, and the nails were driven into His hands and feet. We just see the gift, but it was the long walk. You can’t appreciate the gift unless you appreciate the long walk that it took to bring the gift to you.
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