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Of all the gifts I've received, one stands out—maybe because it was unexpected, unusually wrapped, and something I'd never seen before.

My father had a whimsy about him. At a time when money was tight and the gifts my parents gave were utilitarian, my father found a way to give a special gift I needed.

One Christmas morning, I stared at an enormous industrial-sized buff-colored bag leaning next to our tree. The bag was almost as tall as I was. There was no name on the bag. It could have been for any of us.

After all the gifts were opened except the bag, I asked whose it was. When my father said it was mine, I rushed to the bag. Expecting to find a gigantic doll house, I ripped at the staples that held it shut.

But the bag was too light to hold a doll house. I stuck my hand in as far as it could go and found nothing. I laid it on the floor, crawled inside, and bumped into something furry. I screamed.

When my father picked up the bag and turned it over, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen came out: a black and brown fake-fur hat with pompoms at the end of the strings.

Thinking about the gift our heavenly Father gave more than 2,000 years ago, some might say that although the Messiah's birth had been predicted, it was still unexpected. Because of the unusual way God wrapped His gift, some found it difficult to accept. Nothing like God's gift of His Son had been seen before. Yet it was needed.

To receive the unexpected gift my father gave me, I had to look beyond its unusual wrapping, open it, accept it, and put it on. Like my furry hat, we have to open God's indescribable gift, accept it, and put it on before it becomes ours.

Jesus is waiting to be yours. Open His indescribable gift. 

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)