A wide bow, sparkling with polka dots adorns a package on my desk. I know its contents, since I opened it two weeks ago. Too pretty to resist, I rewrapped the gift box and set it near my monitor as an eye-tickler. I adore gift ribbon–wire-edged gossamers, thin curling strands, or smooth satins–any sort triggers delight. Anticipation heightens the impact of a present when it comes tied together in joyful bows.

No one can match the divine packaging of God’s most glorious gift. Eternal life descended on a beam of miraculous starlight and wrapped itself in the Christ child. At first glance, some might have been distracted by the rags or hay. But graver hindrances followed.

Soon after the nativity, horrors of mass infanticide overwhelmed the land. Grief pierced their hearts. God’s perfect gift lay right among them, but circumstances drew attention away from His presence.

Evil seeks to hamper the ability to recieve life.  Many fail to recognize priceless joy amid bleak circumstances. Despite pain and tragedy threatening to blind us, this gift of life  remains here for each and all, complete with radiant bows.

Jesus gathers the world together in love ribbons, the most beautiful binding agent ever designed. He planted Himself among the deepest pain and coldest hopelessness in humanity. Tendrils of life exploded from His heart, spilling over the earth to draw us together in Him and to our Father.

With this unfathomable gift, we dwell within the heart of our Sovereign Lord and connect with His beloved children as siblings. In the midst of our suffering, we unite through His suffering. Our love binds us to Him in divine strength and we conquer the dark plot of evil as we hold fast to one another in radiant bows.

 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).