Tomorrow is Christmas!  Most of us have likely completed the bulk of our shopping by now.  Once again, you have probably experienced the fact that selecting a gift for some individuals is just a lot more difficult than it is for most of the other people in our lives.  Whether due to their eccentricities, strange taste, or general surliness, buying a present for such a person requires significantly more thought and creativity.

Occasionally we see advertisements touting, “gifts for the man who has everything.”  What would you give as a Christmas present to someone like Bill Gates (net worth of $66 billion) or Warren Buffett (net worth of $46 billion)?  It would be nearly impossible to give them anything of a physical nature that would cause either of them to gush and say, “Wow!  I’ve really been needing one of those.  Where on earth did you find that?”  But, even as wealthy as Gates and Buffett are, they don’t actually own everything, not even close to everything.

Yet, there is Someone who does!  What could you give to Someone who truly has everything?

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” (Psalm 24:1)

“The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all it contains, You have founded them.” (Psalm 89:11)

And then there’s the ultimate “keeping things in perspective” passage:

“For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine.  If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and all it contains.” (Psalm 50:10-12)

So, what do you offer to a God who has everything?  We can’t give Him anything that He needs; an infinite Deity needs nothing.  If only there were some way to know what He wants.  Ah!  That’s where Scripture helps us out tremendously.

To speak of what God wants is another way of expressing what God wills, what He longs for, desires, and seeks.

All God wants for Christmas is you!  And He wants all of you, heart, mind, soul, and strength.  He wants your salvation.

Why didn’t the world end last Friday on December 21?  Why didn’t Jesus return last year or 1,500 years ago?  Because God hasn’t gotten everything that He wants yet!

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:3-4)

“Yet God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.” (II Samuel 14:14)

He wants us, not anything that we can give Him, but us, as living and holy sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2).

How badly does God want us?  Enough to allow His Son to die for us!

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus (Yeshua, “God saves”), because he is the one who will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

What God wants has been made a reality in His Son Jesus Christ.  That’s why we believe in Him.  That’s why we confess Him. That’s why we turn from sin toward Him. That’s why we are baptized in His name, united with Him in baptism, and washed from our sins by the power of His blood.  That’s why we follow in His steps.

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.  For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are those who long for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18)

There is nothing that God wants more than you.  There is nothing that you need more than Him.

Merry Christmas!