I came across the most wonderful quote by John Piper recently:

Jesus did not come mainly to be useful but mainly to be precious.  All his gifts are meant to make the Giver glorious.

I just keep playing those words over and over…and it has changed the way I have thought about Christmas this year.

If I ask my daughter why Jesus was born, she will tell me…to save us from our sins. That is the answer that most Christians would give.

I began thinking…We all know that Jesus came so that we could have access to the Father…so that we could be free from the burden of our sin…so that we can go to heaven when we die…And I realized that, yes, I viewed the coming of Christ as quite…useful.

But, what if…as John Piper states…Jesus did not come mainly to be useful…

I feel as if I have been missing a very important aspect of Christ’s coming…His preciousness…His sweetness…His innocence.

In 7 days, I will hold a newborn child in my arms…a completely vulnerable, dependent on me, precious gift from God. I will not look at her and think…How can she be useful to me?  What has she come to do for me? No, my heart will be overwhelmed at her mere presence…at the very idea that God would send such a gift.

So now…when I read in Luke 2…

…you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger. – Luke 2:12 HCSB

I have to smile at the gift of it all.  God did not send his one and only Son into the world to be used by me…Jesus is a precious gift given by the Father to show me just how much I mean to Him.  Jesus came so that I would then turn and give the Father glory.

Jesus is not a genie in a bottle…He is not someone to be used and then discarded…Christ is a gift to us.

And…

…Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father… – James 1:17 HCSB