That’s the best and greatest gift you can give anyone is not anything that can be bought at a store or online. It’s not something you can wrap up in a pretty package with a bow on it. It’s not something sparkly or shiny or anything that lights up or makes sounds.

The greatest gift you can give anyone is the gift of Emmanuel, God with us, and you can only give as you have encountered the presence of the risen Christ in your own life. That doesn’t come by rushing around like crazy to all the stores in all the traffic, but by finding margin in your schedule to be alone and be still, savoring the gift of the Christ child.

I have my Christmas list like everyone else does, but honestly there’s nothing that I really need there. I can think of years past when I was dying to get a particular toy or computer game or gadget for Christmas only to grow tired of it a few weeks later. I can’t imagine how many of my Christmas gifts eventually got sold in garage sales or donated to Goodwill.

But the gift of Emmanuel is one that only grows dearer with each passing day. It only gets better and richer and deeper as the months and years go by. That’s probably the best example of regifting where you don’t have to feel guilty because this gift is meant to be given away just as God in Jesus freely gave Himself away for us.