Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Friday 12/26/08)

What Gift Are You Giving?

John 3:16-17 (Amplified Bible)
16) For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
17) For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

Around this time of year many offices and churches participate in something called Secret Santa. One of the greatest complaints of people that participate is that people never follow the list provided as to what their likes and dislikes are. It appears many Secret Santa's just get whatever it is that they want to get, without any thought to what the person they are assigned to serve may really desire, want or need. I had a man in my office this week that said he had been married for over 25 years and he knew that the only way he was able to stay married was that he had made up in his mind to give himself whole heartedly to his wife and to the marriage. He relayed stories of times good and bad, but ultimately the sacrificing of himself he said to obedience to God and to being committed everyday to his wife and his marriage had been the thing that kept them together and relatively blissful. I sat quietly and listen to his story and asked, "do you mean you gave yourself as a gift to your wife and to your marriage," he said "I never thought about it like that, but yes that is true."

We have opportunities to give everyday, to those around us but more over to God. What is it that we are giving? What gift do we choose to present to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Do we give small bits and pieces of ourselves over to God in hopes that what we give will be blessed and enough to satisfy Him? Or are we half heartedly giving ourselves over to God as we struggle and wrestle with Him and the things that He asks us to do? For many of us we will never know what it is to fully be committed to anything because we have never challenged ourselves to commit wholly to God. We find ourselves regifting parts and pieces of ourselves to God that we have given to Him before, without any thought that it is ALL to Jesus we need to surrender! God was so gracious and kind to give us His son, Jesus, why, because it was the thing we needed most. He sacrificed what was most precious to Him to give us a gift of pure love and sacrifice one that would cost Him. Are we giving anything that cost us something, anything at all, or does God get the left overs or what lies on the surface of our existence?

It may very well be time for us to evaluate what we give to God and the reasons we are giving. Are we giving just to say we did something, or are we giving to God out of the love we have for Him and our desire to please him and give Him something He needs from us? Realize this fact, until we give to God all of us whole heartedly and without pretense will we know what it is to give to those he entrust us with and those who He may assign to us. It is time to read His list and give God something He is requesting instead of just what you want to give Him.