Black Friday is regarded as the first day of the traditional Christmas shopping season, on which retailers offer special reduced prices and shoppers snap up some of the season’s best deals. Crafts, dinners, gifts, artists, Santa, parties, parades, lights and decorated trees have all highlighted the start of the season, with little attention given to the world’s most expensive tree of all time, and that tree would be the one God decorated.

Matthew 1:23 reads, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel meaning, God with us.” Some three decades later that child became the required innocent sacrificial victim, as He was hung on a tree fashioned into a cross (John 19:19). That most expensive tree was decorated with the body of our Kinsman Redeemer, the sinless Jesus Christ. The decorations included a sign declaring His Kingship, His cleansing blood, as well as spikes, thorns and wood that He spoke into
existence.

God the Father also decorated His tree with lights, for His Son who was nailed to it is known as the Light of the World, although not much light is shed on Him by the masses these days. On that most expensive tree the wrath of God against all sin was satisfied as Colossians 2:14 declares, “God canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the (that) cross.” Thus, Jesus Christ becomes the greatest gift ever offered, and to receive this gift one must repent of sin and entrust their spiritual well-being to Christ for eternal life (John 1:12).

I have no higher goal in this life than to increase my love and deepen my friendship with my Savior, my God and best friend ever, Jesus Christ (John 9:38). May we demonstrate our commitment to Him whenever and however we can, for He has certainly demonstrated His commitment to us.

Including Him
Pastor Huck