If you were to make a Christmas wish list, what would be the most extravagant thing on that list? A new car? A tropical vacation? A visit from a much-loved family member who lives far away? A Hatchimal, a Lego Star Wars X-Wing Fighter, or a drone? And have you been 'good' enough this year to deserve such a gift? What if you got only the gifts you deserved? Might you receive less costly, less popular and less desirable gifts? Would you receive any gifts at all?
What if we only got what we deserved from God? Have we been good enough for God to love us? Are we perfect enough to earn God's perfect acceptance? Fortunately for us, God does not give us what we deserve, but instead gives us grace. Grace is the biblical word for 'undeserved gift.' Mary, the mother of Jesus, was nearly a no one in Jewish society. She was young, female, poor, and from a no-place little town. Yet God gave her an unimaginable gift - to be the one to carry and give birth to the Messiah, to God himself come to earth
