It's Christmas wishlist season. A place where we all share the gifts we want and find out what our loved ones want. But, of course, today is also Advent. It occurred to me that I could spend a little less time worrying about gift shopping and wish lists and a little more time carefully contemplating the abundance of gifts I already have.
Are you with me here?
His gift is an invitation to participate in his work and enjoy his relationship.
First, we all know that God provides everything we need, but we need constant reminders. This phrase is easy enough to let loose, without stopping to let it sink into our minds.
But as the decorations of the Christmas season swirl around us, slowing down and savoring its truth gives us time to reflect on the glories hidden within, including the glorious truth that the joy of Christmas never has to end. He will give it to you. We can rejoice every day as we consider the rich gifts God has given us.
It's not Christmas morning yet, but these gifts are already ours, so let's open them again now.
life
He gave you…you. God created you as a unique creation and decided to create you before the beginning of time.
All the wonders of life, all the joys, blessings, and experiences are all part of the gift of life given to everyone, along with the gift of the senses to experience the next gift.
world
God certainly allows us to enjoy our senses by seeing sunrises and forests and waterfalls, hearing birds chirping and roaring and all kinds of music, and smelling flowers and baking and clean laundry. God has placed us on a planet full of blessings. , savor sizzling steaks and juicy strawberries and tacos (tacos!), savor soft kittens and fluffy slippers and cozy blankets.
These gifts, this richly decorated and beautiful world, are for all of us.
Even in its current state of sin, our world is breathtakingly beautiful, from a single violet bursting through a crack in the sidewalk to a galaxy of black velvet, from Beethoven's symphonies to Rembrandt's masterpieces. are provided every day. He must have known that this world needs beauty.
each other
God gives us relationships that begin with our placement in families.
Life is never experienced alone and God has given us the need to belong. When we talk about relationships with fellow Christians, we call it communion, and it is truly a gift.
work
He gives us a lot to do and starts coming back clean from the garden.
Work wasn't a curse! Before the Fall brought a curse to human endeavor, God gave Adam and Eve the task of cultivating the garden. The ability to bring our skills and talents with him to help make his world a better place, whether that skill is building skyscrapers or leading a nation, or anything else the world thinks is great. It is an honor and a gift, whether it comes with a lot of glamor or something less glamorous. It's like changing a diaper or digging a ditch.
It is a privilege and a gift to be allowed to create order, beauty, or service to others in this world. Although it is a gift that we often derive income from this activity, the work itself is ordained and blessed by God.
Salvation, transformation, and eternal life with Him.
This is one of the gift packages where many presents are stacked together.
I I wrote it before These are the gifts He gives us in the transformative moments that make us His own.
- The eyes that see us need repentance.
- A heart that accepts faith.
- Salvation itself when our chains come off.
- Justification when our debts are paid and we have a clean slate. and
- The Holy Spirit takes up residence within us and begins a lifelong journey of sanctification.
It is important to think about these gifts because they are the starting point for all disciples. We cannot grow because we are meant to grow from any place other than our starting point of first being transformed by the gospel of God and gratefully accepting those wonderful gifts.
his words
He also offers His Word, the Bible, as a gift.
It is a treasure that we will never exhaust in this life, and it is the greatest masterpiece of all time, written directly from God the Creator to His people.
Spending time each day digging for wealth – reading, studying, memorizing, applying, learning – is one of the best uses of our time. Colossians 1:10 speaks of two things that “please God in every way.” It is to bear fruit in every good deed and to increase in the knowledge of God.
There is only one path to that “increase” and it all resides within the pages of His Word, which He has graciously provided to us.
all things
All the attributes we are meant to embody, love, hope, faith, joy, peace, wisdom, patience, gentleness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, and every individual talent and ability are gifts from God. is.
They were given to us so that we could use them for the Kingdom of God. The best gifts are ones that people will actually use.
After all, God's gift to us is not just to make us happy. Nor are they just there for us to serve Him. His gift is an invitation to participate in his work and enjoy his relationship.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of the many presents under this world's “Christmas tree.”
If you think about what you are grateful for, you will find many things you can be more grateful for. But let's end with this gift that has a lot to offer. As our Father, He has given us an inheritance as heirs (Colossians 1:12). In that verse, Paul uses language that is normally given to Jews under the Old Covenant. Genesis 13:14-17 For example), please apply it to us. Through Jesus' work on the cross, we (all his followers) can share in this inheritance. We can live forever in His light, in His very being!
Please chew on it for a while. I don't think anyone can fully understand what it's like to literally live in His glory. Isn't that a mind-boggling gift worthy of our meditation as we travel through this world?
This article was adapted from an essay first published Diane Schrader's Substack:she speaks the truth ”
