Long ago, churches used the Christmas season to fill wooden barrels or crates with gifts and provisions they shipped overseas to their missionaries in foreign fields. For many, placing things in the barrel meant those here had sacrificed their own wants and needs for the sake of others.

We can only imagine what those barrels meant to the missionaries so far from home. Christmas was probably a time when they keenly felt their separation from friends and family. Their families celebrated the holiday with a few empty places at their tables. 

What did the Creator God feel when his Son was being held in the arms of Mary? What did God give up in order to give us his Son? We often think of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, but his Father also made a sacrifice. Both felt the pain of that day.

Under the old covenant, God allowed sin to be covered by a number of different sacrifices. A lamb was the required sacrifice for Passover. It was given to remember and honor the time when God’s people had covered their doorposts with lamb’s blood so the angel of death would pass over their household. The Passover lamb was asking God to offer that same forgiveness again. Jesus became a sacrificial lamb so that anyone “covered” by his blood would never be harmed by the angel of death.

Paul wrote, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Why did God sacrifice his Son for us, and why should we think about that at Christmas?

God wanted us to become the righteousness of God so he gave us Jesus. Later, God would allow his Son to take the blame for our sins. How, then, should we live this day?

We can live a righteous life, a life right with God. What is God’s will for your day? What is God’s will for tomorrow? If you live a righteous life, others will know the reality of Christ as they witness him in you. That is what God wants for our life eternal as well as for our life on earth.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. What sacrifice will you make for the sake of living a righteous life with God? How will you express your gratitude for the treasure God gave you?