It’s Christmas morning.

Imagine there’s a special gift waiting for you by the fireplace, or perhaps near the tree. The gift appears to be a box, wrapped in a simple layer of red paper. Your name is beautifully written on a wooden tag. You sit down, preparing your heart for what’s inside. Wondering who this is from.

Slowly, you open the box to find a book. The cover is a bit worn, a few marks. And written inside are words that you recognize. The author is “Your Father”. It’s called the “greatest love.”

And it’s your story.

One of our favorite authors, Paul David Tripp, writes it best:

“The Christmas story is the world’s best love story. It’s about the God of love sending the Son of love to live a life of love and die a death of love, so that all who believe in him would be welcomed into his arms forever and ever.”

How do you feel when you read that? Maybe you have tears or chills.

This is one beautiful promise. That’s your promise. That’s your story. You are loved abundantly.

In moments when you don’t feel capable of giving for receiving love, consider the box of the greatest love story, sitting beneath the tree. In 1 John 4, Paul writes about this ultimate love story of the Father sending his Son to be the Savior of the world, to reveal his great love for us. Because God is love. The greatest gift we will ever receive is life. This was only made possible by Jesus.

So today as you open gifts or share a meal, just remember to pause and image opening the book. Take a few moment to reflect how God has shaped your story, and the ultimate gift that is life. Your story is written by the same author of the greatest love story.

Father, we are in awe of the gift you gave us today. Thank you for your son, Jesus. Your love for us beyond anything we could have asked, so we come to you with thankful hearts. We are in awe of the story you’ve written for our lives. May our stories reflect your love, and compel us to love others well today and every day.