My friend Billy knew where his parents hid the Christmas gifts. Well, he's an adult now but he still remembers the year he that he acted on knowing where the gifts were. His parents were gone and he sneaked downstairs. He went into the closet and nothing was wrapped yet, opened up the shopping bags and there they were. He folded up the bag and went back upstairs. His parents never knew. Now it was Christmas morning and you have to know that Billy had the reputation for being Mr. Christmas in his family. He never needed an alarm clock on Christmas morning. His parents told me all you have to do is have him get you up about 5 a.m. He's set to go off on Christmas morning. But this particular Christmas everybody was downstairs. They were beginning to open their presents and they suddenly realized, "Whoa, Whoa Billy is not here." Well Dad went and got him and he said, "It's Christmas son. Are you coming?" "Yeah," and he came shuffling downstairs, opened his presents, expressed his appreciation but somehow he was just not into it like everybody else was. His dad called him aside and he said, "Hey, Billy are you sick or something? You're like Mr. Christmas here." Billy said, "Dad, I really blew it." He said, "I opened my gift early and I ruined Christmas." A lot of people have ruined what could have been an unforgettable celebration.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Save Your Gift For Christmas."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 13:4. He's talking about the great gift that God gave you to express your love physically, sexually to a person to whom you are making a lifetime commitment - your lifetime love. It says, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." God says keep this great gift for marriage. Your wedding night is Christmas and all the nights that follow. Outside of marriage it's wrong and expensive. God's intention is that there would be a great celebration for two people who waited for each other.
Proverbs 5:18-19 describes a celebration. It says, "Rejoice in the wife of your youth." Be ravished with her love. "Let her breasts satisfy you at all times." God says "I want it to be exciting." The excitement is the uniqueness. You never said I love you like this to anyone before, but the pressure is on to open your gift early and you lose when you do. If Christmas is your wedding night and all those other nights, then God doesn't want you to ruin Christmas. See, the lie is you're missing something if you don't have sex before marriage. The truth is you're missing it if you do.
This season why don't you decide to keep your gift of love and purity special from now on. You say it's too late. Well, God makes this wonderful promise in Hebrews 8, "I will remember your sins no more." He said to people who had sinned sexually, who had messed it up. He said these wonderful words. He said 1 Corinthians 6:11, "That is what some of you were. But you were washed and sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Forgiven, cleaned up and made special again, a new beginning because of the wonderful redeeming work of Jesus Christ.
We're talking about what you do from this moment on; and let God begin to restore your spiritual and emotional virginity. It's time to begin to set a high physical standard. Don't play on the edge. Don't press how far can I go. Live as if your gift is too precious to open early. Yes, Christmas is your wedding night. Christmas is so worth waiting for.