All He wants for Christmas is you
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….” John 3:16
A few years back, the minister of music and I decided to try something different on the last Sunday night before Christmas. We had done all the pageants and children’s musicals and there was nothing more that just “had” to be done. So, Ken and I came up with the idea of a “homespun Christmas,” where anyone who wished could come to the microphone and sing a Christmas carol.
After all, what could happen other than a few tone-deaf members grating on our ears? Hey, it was a Sunday night. What did we have to lose?
We ended up with an irregular collection of performances. A dad and his son sang a duet that occasional hit a correct note, but they were charming and everyone loved it. A family sang harmony and blessed the crowd. There were solos and a little karaoke-type stuff. But one number in particular was unforgettable.
Someone in our church put out the word that “just anyone” could come and sing. So they did. No one knew those two teenage girls. I think they came from the other side of the metro area, maybe 25 miles away. Their short dresses indicated they were not regulars in our church and perhaps in anybody’s church.
They sang a rather seductive version of “All I want for Christmas is you” that would not have been out of place in a smoky barroom. (Anyone unfamiliar with this song will have no trouble finding it on youtube.)
Brother Ken sat there wondering what act could best follow this and what could he say before presenting them.
As they sat down, I went to the mike, thanked the girls and said, “Yes, Jesus–all we want for Christmas is you.”
“Nice save,” the staff said to me later.
This is the place for a good old-fashioned “lol.” Our ministers still talk about that song and that moment.
All He wants for Christmas is you.
You and others like you were the motivating reason for Christmas in the first place.
“But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that He might redeem those who were under the Law…” (Galatians 4:4).
“…that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
He did it for you.
We keep offering Him substitutes when all He wants is us.
“Well, Lord, since I’ll not be giving myself to you, how about a little of my time….some of my money…a prayer or two. Maybe an hour of worship?”
“I’m willing to join the church for you, Lord, and even be baptized. Will that satisfy you?”
“If I go as a missionary, could I keep back some of myself for me?”
“I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
When God’s messengers stand before you, they are not after what is yours but you.
“Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account” (Philippians 4:17).
The Macedonians did so well in their giving. “They first gave themselves to the Lord and (then) to us by the will of God” (II Corinthians 8:5).
Paul said to the Corinthians, “For I do not seek what is yours but you” (II Corinthians 12:14).
And that’s the point.
The Lord does not accept substitutes.
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name cast out demons? and in your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:22-23).
He wants you.
If He gets you, He gets everything you have.
And that’s why the thought of His getting you sends panic throughout your system.
By Joe McKeever
Joe McKeever is retired missions director for the New Orleans Baptist Association. Before that Mr. McKeever pastored churches in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and North Carolina.