Gift experiences

Children's Christmas presents*! ? Find out what the children received.

Did you all know that there's a new kind of present on the market now, which is proving very popular indeed. It's called a 'GIFT EXPERIENCE'.

You can choose a gift for your loved one from a whole range of experiences, defined within categories such as driving, flying, sport, hobbies, pamper, learning and kids.

Within each one of these headings, you can find many exciting experiences and you select a price which suits your pocket.

The gift experience market has doubled in the last year with sales at about £120m now.

The most expensive experience is to drive a Formula One car for a day, at a mere snippet of £1,299.99,

but other favourites include a flight in a MiG fighter jet , a trip in a hot-air balloon (£189.99)and now becoming more and more popular,

an afternoon in a recording studio

You might be even be tempted to sign up for a pamper session(receiving beauty treatment)  at a health club at around £139.99. It seems that this is becoming more and more popular with the men now as well as the women.

If you are worried about choosing the wrong activity for someone , and would like a wider choice, they have now brought out a MULTI-CHOICE OPTION, which lists about eight activities in one gift package, and the one who receives must choose.

I would like you to bear this kind of MULTI-CHOICE gift in your minds as we take a trip back in time, to just over two thousand years ago.

HANG ON TO YOUR SEATS

Drama follows…

Mother: Caleb, come and look at the new gift experience catalogue. It's just arrived.

Caleb: Mother I haven't time just now. I'm off to work, you can't keep sheep waiting.

Mother; Just five minutes to browse through the choices Caleb. It won't hurt you.

Look at this for choice!

It says that these gifts are all spectator friendly.

There are no age restrictions,

no need to take out personal insurance

and it says 'participants will share the experience with four other people.'

CALEB: Really mum? Sounds interesting.

Mother. Here they are, choose from these.

1    Relax and take time off work.

2         Spend a  whole night under the stars in a far- eastern beauty spot

 (I do that already mum)

3        Have a  heart thumping spooky experience in the dead of night.

(Oo I don't fancy that one)

4        Enjoy an exciting encounter with a heavenly choir

(That would be pleasant)

5        Go on an exciting treasure hunt

( Now that sounds good, I wonder what the treasure would turn out to be?)

6        Win a  free entry ticket to see a showing of the ‘Saviour of the World’ or ‘The Messiah!’

(OOO mam, that's the experience I would want, imagine seeing the Saviour of the world! We've waited ages for that)

7        There's also a chat with two celebrities, two people whose names will go down in history

(mmmmmm)

8        A chance to do a live broadcast

There you have it: choose ONE.

Caleb: They sound very exciting mum , but there's far too much for me to take in on one night. Besides, the white watch are waiting for me to take the night shift.

It'll keep till another time. I'll put it off for now.

Mother:

O.K. son, but what you've got to remember is that chances like these don't come round very often. You don't know what you're missing.

Caleb:

Bye mother. I'm off to the fields to keep watch over my flocks by night……

That night was the shepherds finest hour!

Every item in that MULTI CHOICE LIST came to be, in that very order.

But the ultimate gift experience of all of these for them, was to gaze on the face of the Messiah, the Son of God…PURE LOVE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, one who was to save them from their sins, and be a light to a people walking in darkness..

And they didn't have to pay, because this gift , the greatest event in history, was free…and it was an experience so wonderful they immediately wanted to share with others.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him shall not die…

But have eternal life.

We're not talking about a gift that was only available THEN just over 2000 years ago, we're talking about a gift we can receive NOW today, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!

We can accept this gift now.

He is the gift you can give away and keep at the same time.

But he is also a gift that we can put off receiving, just like Caleb tried to do.

I read an article about gift experiences in the newspaper, and it said that there is a 'live for today' mentality about people in our world. People don’t want to put off great experiences and bargains and opportunities, they want things NOW!

If we can work this out logically about gifts we buy for money, why is it we can't see it, when it's about the most wonderful gift of all which comes free?