ACTIVATING THE GIFT

We all like to receive gifts.  At Christmas time we give and receive many gifts.  Some are keepsakes, we like to look at them.  They are for display only.  Others we wear, some with pride and others with a sense of obligation.  Some we eat, they taste good.  But in  most every instance we appreciate the effort  the giver has gone through  to try to give us the  gift that is appreciated.  Still, occasionally, we pay little attention to the gift and put it away in a  drawer and forget about it.  When we happen to get a glance at the gift it may get put further back in the drawer so we don't accidently see it again. We are still aware of the gift but don't want to see it or make use of it.  It makes us uneasy.The picture above is my husband on his 70th birthday.  He was presented a gift of a special watch, a gift from our children.  It made him humbly grateful that they thought of him as being worthy of being honored with such a gift.  When he received it, it was wrapped in fancy wrap, it was contained in a special box and was tied in so it would be safe.  He had to open each layer of wrap in order to receive the gift.  Then, however, he still had to put it on his wrist, set the time and fully accept and utilize the watch. 
The above story reminds me of how we chose to accept and use the gift  that God extends to each and every one of us. Or how we reject the most important gift that has ever been offered to each and every one of us.  The gift that I am talking about is the gift offered by God to accept His Son as our Lord and Savior.  We can hear the story by reading the Bible, by hearing a message from a pastor in person or by way of TV or many other ways.  As a Chaplain I have the opportunity to offer the gift/person of Jesus to many patients.  I usually begin the conversation by expressing love to the patient but explain that God's love for them is so much purer than mine.  Then I like to share John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave  His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him may have eternal life.  Now  that is LOVE.  God loves us so much that He gave His only son.  Would I do that?  The story does not end there.  Then He took upon Himself the condemnation of the whole world by dying a shameful death on the cross.  He did that so that whosoever believes does not  have to suffer the punishment  for sin.  After all my years of knowing that, I still can't comprehend the immensity of  that love. But it must be said that many of us hear that story of redemption many times and  the gift of salvation is offered to us but we don't accept it.  The gift is before us but if we don't "open" that gift in our heart it will not do us any good.  The watch my husband received was offered and he received it.  In addition, he set it on time and the watch kept him cognizant of the time for years.  We too, after accepting and believing in Christ have the awareness of how we are to live.  God directs us each and every day and helps us walk in an upright manner.  Do we mess up some times?  Of course, just like the watch can stop and fail to do it's job.  We fail often but when we confess and ask God for direction he is quick to forgive and help us find our way again. 
God offers His gift of His Son.  Accept Him and let your relationship with Him fill your heart with gratitude and joy.  A gift must be utilized in order to do  what it was meant to do.  What LOVE.
Feel free to email me if you want to discuss this further with me.  It is given in more detail in my  book,  "I've Always Been Rich."  You can purchase a book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your Christian Bookstore. Marilyn Rensink    email mjrevmom6@aol.com