God In A Box

When I have to wrap a present, I must pull down the attic stairs and climb up to get a box.
I have climbed up to my attic many times, sure that I would find the perfect box.
I discover that I have every size but the one I need.
Even when I have found the right one, I wrap the present and realize that I am about six inches short on the wrapping paper.
I have yet to find a tactful way to hide that mistake.

Wrapping presents is my least favorite job.
I love choosing the right present, and hiding surprises all around the house.
But the wrapping tends to get tedious…right up there with ironing.
I have to find ways to refocus my thoughts.
Playing music, loud enough to feel, always puts me in a festive mood.
Praying for the recipient of the gift is something I can do that has eternal value.

I remember daydreaming one day in my attic.
If only I could put God in a box.
There are so many people I know and love who would benefit from such a gift.

I thought about what this gift would look like.
I decided it would be a Bible, after all, that is God’s Word.
That would be God in a box.
Surely, once opened, they would read the Bible and know how much God loves them.
I could find the right box for the Bible.

Could I put the sunset in a box, or the incredible night sky?
Could I put a song that touched my heart and brought me to my knees in worship?
Could I add the sound of laughter or the din of prayer?

How could I wrap up God?

I heard the wind whistling through the attic vents.
What if I could harness all the power in nature by which He shows His Hand.
If I could wrap that up…then they would see His awesomeness in the strength of the wind.
I searched for a box, but could not find one large enough.

I stopped my pursuit and leaned back on a stack of boxes and drew a mental picture.
Putting God in a Box was nothing new.
I thought of the Israelites wandering through the desert.

Have them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them. Have them make a chest of acacia wood…Place the cover on top of the ark…there, above the cover, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you…
(Exodus 25:8,10a, 21a, 22).

God so desired to dwell among his wandering people that He traveled with them.
He used a box to hold a physical presence of Himself.
He housed Himself in a portable tent so that they would never be far from Him.

I thought of David who longed to build a house for God.
Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.
(2 Samuel 7:2).

David was not the man for that job, but rather his son Solomon who built a splendid temple which God called a house for My name. (2 Samuel 7:13a)

At the dedication of that temple, Solomon stood in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward Heaven.
But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built? (2 Chronicles 6:18)

How could I wrap up God?
What box could possibly hold Him?

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. (John 1:1, 14)

God put Himself in a box.
God wrapped Himself in the human body of His Son, Jesus.
Jesus is God’s gift to us.
Surely God in a box would be magnificent…a gift we would recognize…a gift we must have.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him; nothing in appearance that we should desire Him. (Isaiah 53:2)

God in a Box was overlooked.
The gift didn’t meet our expectations, so we hung God’s gift on the tree.
But we who see with our heart, and not with our eyes, notice Him.
We take hold of Him.
The gift tag on God’s Box reads: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God wrapped Himself up in the box of His Son, Jesus Christ.
It is a magnificent gift.
Like any gift, we must accept it.

Do you see it there?
It’s so easy to miss.
It costs us nothing but cost God everything.

God’s hands are extended.
He holds the gift of Himself wrapped up in His Son.
Take hold.
Unwrap Him.
Embrace Him.
Share His gift with others.