By Eric Johnson

The Gift

All the hustle and bustle of the anticipated Holiday is quickly closing nigh,
And many frazzled shoppers can at last let out a collective great big sigh,

Their present-buying is done and all the cards are finally addressed,
The children have been put to bed as it’s time for them to get some rest.

Most of the world now awaits Santa Claus, he’s flying through the air,
He and his reindeer will deliver what all the elves have made to share.

So as everyone’s heads hit the pillows on this quiet Christmas Eve night,
Not a creature is stirring, and even the tiny mice are sleeping out of sight.

Many people are merely dreaming about what the Jolly Fat Man can lift,
Yet Someone more special is wanting to deliver a different kind of gift.

What kind of gift, you might ask? It’s something that can never get broken,
You would never have to wait in a return line, it’s much more than a token.

While the presents under the tree last usually an hour or two, maybe three,
What I am talking about goes on and on and actually right into eternity.

But just like the fake Rolex on the corner many charlatans want to imitate,
They will say this “gift” is what you work for, hurry up before it’s too late.

What if I pull out my wallet when I get a gift, what would the giver surmise?
No, we understand that a gift is a gift, this should not be a great big surprise.

And this is the way it is with the Babe who came to us in a smelly old stable,
Yet how unfortunate that so many consider this to be just an annual fable.

Immanuel, given to us two thousand years ago cannot be purchased in a mall,
This one—born, lived, and died before He was resurrected—offers a Gift to all.

Truly if we open up our hearts and receive this Gift –Jesus Christ to the earth,
There is nothing I consider more valuable or anything that has a greater worth.

Without the Father’s grace, mercy, and love, all of us share an eternally bad fate,
But receivers of the priceless Gift, it’s heaven we get, how amazing we now rate!

So this Christmas Eve, when everything is finished and you lay your heads down,
Remember the Gift given to those who believe, it is what we know as Paradise Found.