What is the greatest gift you’ve ever received? Not just gifts you’ve gotten on birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s day, but all the good deeds that were done unto you. I believe that the most ultimate gift that anyone can give is their own life for the sake of another. Imagine how much love you’d have to feel for a person to lay down your own life for their benefit. If you want an example of true altruism, giving your life for another is an extremely unselfish act of love that qualifies. Now imagine a person you never met has sent His only beloved son to sacrifice his life to save yours. What kind of love would drive a person to do such an act? What is the nature of this love? How intense would that love have to be?

Now think about the leaders of the world. How many of them would give the life of their child to save a city? How many would sacrifice the city to save their child? Imagine that the city is corrupt and crime runs rampant. Imagine that they knew that a majority of the people in this city had voted against them. How many of our leaders in this position would still give their only precious child’s life for the sake of the city? I’m in no way a leader so I don’t know what they would do. But I do know that I would let the city burn before I let anything bad happen to my child (if I had any). Yet, I would not be a person who is looked upon as virtuous. But ideally, our leaders should be more virtuous than the average person. Yet, I can’t imagine any of them would make such a sacrifice.

Now imagine that someone has made that sacrifice on your behalf. How would you acknowledge their deed or would you treat it as an everyday occurrence and soon forget about it. Would it forever alter your course in life or would you go back to your routine after a week? Would you speak highly of that person to your friends and family or would you be too embarrassed to talk about it? Would you do things that honor that person every day? Every week? Every month? Every year?

Imagine that the person who has made the ultimate sacrifice for you was not a firefighter nor a police officer nor a lifeguard. He’s not a good Samaritan or a random passerby. Imagine He was none other than The God of this world. How much more would you honor, acknowledge, and speak highly about Him. How much more love does it take when you are that corrupt city or world. You have voted against a holy life. You have rebelled against righteousness. And all have committed crimes against their brothers and sisters and against God. Yet He had so much love for the world that he sacrificed his only begotten son who was Jesus Christ. Because in those days, the wages of sin was death. And all were born into sin and helpless to continually sin despite their best efforts.

Can you fathom the depth of His love for us? Can you comprehend the mercy in His heart? He created all laws in the universe and when we could not adhere to them and fell victim to the consequences, he took pity on us. He is Just. Yet, merciful. Patient too, apparently. Cause he still grants us free will.