Gift giving is not my strong point.
You all know those people who bring you the perfect little gift and tell you they saw it and thought of you. I love people, I really do. But RARELY have I ever seen something in a store and thought to buy it for someone. Even when I go looking for a gift it causes me stress because I really don’t know what would be “just perfect.”
Gift-giving is a “gift” that some people just have. We could go all into these gifts or even discuss love languages with regard to receiving gifts. It would be a great discussion.
But today, I want to chat about the greatest Giver of gifts.
Someone asked me the other day, “If salvation is for everyone, why don’t we all go to heaven?”
Great question.
The answer I gave was about a gift.
At times, I buy gifts for people I love. I buy the gift, wrap it, and wait for a special moment to give it, all because I love that person and care for them. Truth be told, though, that gift does not belong to the person for whom it was intended until they actually take possession of it. My intent and even their desire to have it mean nothing until I offer it to them and they take it in hand.
Salvation is like that.
It is the perfect gift God intended for us all. It is also the gift we all desire. Yet it is never ours until we take possession of it, till we claim it as ours.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Pondering this very thing has made me think of other gifts as well.
- That gift of the Holy Spirit? Yep. Way cool gift. (John 14:16)
- Spiritual gifts? As Christians, we all have them, but have we “taken possession” and used them? (1 Corinthians 12)
- Love, joy, peace – all those fruits of the Spirit? Yep, they are an overflow, an extra gift, from the Holy Spirit living in us. (Galatians 5:22-23)
- Prayer? Conversation with the God of the universe? That too. (1 John 5:14-15)
God has given us many gifts, far more precious than we could ever imagine, but they are not ours until we take possession and open them.
Kyle, my husband, made a profound comment on this very subject the other day. He pointed out that all the gifts we have ever been given we eventually give away. Some of them go to neighbors or friends, some to the thrift store, and some to our children or family members. We give lots of things away while we are here on the planet and then someday someone will get them all.
We should do the same with the gifts God gives. We should give them all away in the same measure with which they have been given.
The cool thing? God continues to give.
When we think we have given it all, when we think we have nothing left, there He is giving more.
He never runs out and He never runs short.
He gives in abundance.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
I still am not a good gift giver when it comes to birthdays and Christmas, and certainly not random gifts throughout the year, but I pray that I get REALLY good at giving Good gifts. I want to be known as one who gives my Jesus away.
