Q:
The doctors say this was my last Christmas, because I have an inoperable brain tumor and I'm not expected to live much longer. I feel so sad and hopeless. If you could sit down and talk to me, what would you say?
A:
The first thing I’d say to you is that God knows what you’re going through, and He loves you and wants you to experience His presence every step of the way. God’s promise is for you: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
How do I know this is true –and how can you know it’s true for you? I know it because of what we just celebrated yesterday: the coming of Jesus Christ into the world on that first Christmas night slightly over 2,000 years ago. He wasn’t just another baby who grew up to be a great man. He was God in human flesh, sent by God to open heaven’s door for us. He did this by offering us the most important gift we could ever receive –the gift of God’s forgiveness. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Yesterday, you probably were given a number of gifts. But what if you’d rejected them, or never took them and opened them? Others paid for them and offered them to you, but they only became yours if you reached out and received them as your own.
The same is true with God’s gift of salvation. Christ has done everything possible to make it yours, but you must receive it. I invite you to do this today, by turning to Jesus and by faith receiving Him into your life.