THE BEST
CHRISTMAS
GIFT EVER A STORY ABOUT A GIFT PLANNED LONG AGO
J.John Illustrated by Juliana Oakley
Christmas is full of waiting Christmas is full of waiting. Waiting for surprises. Waiting for mornings. Waiting for now to finally be now. It’s shaking boxes, guessing games, sneaky peeks, and big, bouncy hopes. Christmas is full of gifts. Big gifts, small gifts. Noisy gifts, quiet gifts. Soft gifts you hug and hard gifts you build.
But the very first Christmas gift was different. It wasn’t wrapped in shiny paper. It didn’t come with a bow. It was wrapped the way babies are wrapped to keep them warm, safe and snug. The very first Christmas gift was a baby.
A gift God planned long ago
God gave a gift to us. And this gift wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t a last-minute idea. God had planned it a very long time ago. The Bible says, ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son.’
More than 7OO years before the first Christmas, God announced through a man called Isaiah: ‘A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us . . . His name will be Wonderful Counsellor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.’ God promised a child, and even told people who that child would be.
Isaiah said this child would be:
What God was promising
Wonderful – helping people.
Powerful – always able to save.
Forever – never leaving.
Peaceful – calming worried hearts.
This wasn’t a guess. It wasn’t a wish. It was a promise. God was saying, ‘I am sending a child who will change everything.’
Learning to notice God had spoken. God had promised. God had planned. But many people were busy. Busy with work. Busy with worries. Busy with their own ideas. They hoped for something big and loud and missed something small and gentle.
Sometimes the greatest gifts don’t shout.
They whisper. They wait. They need to be noticed.