Given at just the right time to an individual who least expects it and it could make a deep impact on one's life. A tangible expression of love which conveys, without provocation, the sentiments of the giver to the recipient. In fact, the very definition of gift communicates this very clearly: a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.
When I was a young boy there was a particular Christmas I will never forget. I wanted a BB Gun so bad I could taste it - those pesky pigeons and barn swallows were about to meet their fate. The gifts were wrapped under the tree; and I thought, "What harm could there possibly be in just 'bumping' the edge of the gift marked with my name in order to find out if I had gotten what I wanted."
Raising a large number of children is called parenting. It also doubles as law enforcement training 101 for would-be detectives and my father was a decorated veteran of the program. He spotted the tear in the wrapping paper caused "by accident" and I was not awarded the gift for two weeks following Christmas.
A funny thing happened internally in the days that followed as the punishment was enacted. Though my parents were under no compulsion to provide for me the gift I now was upset with them for having taken it away. Their tangible expression of love, simply because I was their son, was met with juvenile anger and a real sense of entitlement that simply had to be addressed.
We do this with God, don't we? We can so easily fixate on His gifts to us that we forget THE GIVER. This is the Life From God posture. We are totally interested in what God has to offer, just not so much God Himself.
Author Skye Jethani says it this way,
He's absolutely right.
Everything that lives draws its life from God, and he is the “Father of lights” from whom comes “every good gift and every perfect gift. (see James 1:17)" And Jesus calls us to ask God for what we need. But the life from God posture has a tendency to overemphasize this single aspect of the divine-human relationship. It makes receiving God’s gifts the entirety of our religious lives.
In His kindness, God has lavished His love on us (see Eph. 1). This past week, in his sermon, Don Stuber had the opportunity to draw attention to that (listen here). In the message he drew upon his own experience with his father. Telling a story that captivates the imagination and awe a young boy can sometimes feel for his father; he shared how he climbed into the farm truck at a young age eager for the presence of his dad.
NOT HIS PRESENTS
His dad said, "Where we going son?" Don, filled with a wonder not yet stained by the world replied...
"Anywhere dad, as long as its with you."
- What are you most looking forward to when you think about eternal life WITH God? (if answer is your lack of sickness, a gold mansion, or any other benefit that's not the presence of God then He may be addressing the gift vs. GIVER reality in your heart)
- How does faith remain strong (or even grow) when life continually throws you curves?
- What things or relationships have I overemphasized? How do they (things or relationships) illustrate God's lavish love for me?
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