Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. My family Christmas tree is full of gifts in different colored wrapping paper, bows and ribbon.  Some are big and some are small.  Each of my children hopes that the biggest one goes to them.  For some reason, we often get excited thinking that the bigger the gift the better it will be.

Do you remember the greatest gift you ever received at Christmas time?

Christmas is celebrated by Christians as the birthdate of Jesus.  We consider Him to be the greatest gift of all.  We believe that He is the Son of God that miraculously became a human, born of a virgin.  We believe that He died on a cross for the sins of mankind that we could be restored to a rightful relationship with our Father in Heaven.

Truly, He is a great gift.

You would think such greatness would come in a great package.  When we want to give someone we love and cherish a special gift we will go to great lengths to pick out the right wrapping paper and the perfect bow.  We might even set up the surroundings to make everything perfect for when they open that gift.

But, He didn’t come wrapped up in a great package.

He was born around smelly animals. Truly not a place for a king, let alone the God of the Universe.

He didn’t look like royalty.  He was born to commoner parents. No regal robes, no silver or gold plated rattles.  He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

His birth was made known by angels to shepherds and not to anyone else.  He was born in a little, out of way town that didn’t have much significance.

His birth was low-key and was not something that you expect of a great King.

In other words, a gift came wrapped up in an unassuming package.

Throughout Jesus’ life, He was not received by many of His own.  He didn’t come wrapped in the package they were expecting.  They were expecting a mighty warrior King that would free them from Roman oppression.  He came as the Suffering Servant.  He did not look or act like they thought he should look or act.

They missed the gift because of the packaging.

Have you ever missed the gift of God because it didn’t come the way you thought it should?  I have.  I looked at the package (the person) and didn’t like what I saw so I was unable to receive the gift.

God wraps His gifts in the packaging of humanity.

He wants us to be able to see beyond the packaging.  He wants us to see the gift inside.

The gifts under the tree are not really about the wrapping paper.  It’s not even about the box that the gift comes packaged in.  It’s the gift itself.  It’s what is wrapped up in the paper and the box.

It’s the same with people.  It’s not about what’s on the outside.  It’s about the inside.  Learn to look beyond the exterior to see the heart.  This Christmas season, and throughout the coming year, learn to see beyond the exterior of every human being and see the gift that is on the inside.