Gifts.

 Gifts.

 

Over the many years of my life, many gifts have come to me and to mine. Have you ever thought about the gifts others give to you? Ever made a list? Personally, some of those gifts were so great that they come to mind immediately, and others simply did not leave an impression. One gift given by my parents was teaching me to pray, to ask God for forgiveness and for help—for myself and for others. Have seen a post where someone said the only reason that life was still with that person was because of his mother’s prayers. Many of us can claim that same gift—a mother’s prayers really do matter. God knows how it feels to want to bless His children.

 

Learning to read was a gift from my mother when the old woman was too young to even realize what it meant. Mom put her finger on the words of the songs we sang in services, so those words became part of my vocabulary—sight words for a child. Maybe the understanding of their meaning was not as easy for me, but the assurance that we could praise God with song was a given. Daddy led our family in prayer each meal time we were together. That became a gift when it was time to raise our own family. They knew we were to give thanks for these blessings.

 

Sometimes we are thankful for what others are willing to give to someone we know. My grand-nephew was given a trip to see the Walt Disney world thing with wild life. The entire community came together to pay for the trip and the reservations for him and his family. No one expected him to be alive long enough to see adulthood, but their prayers have also been heard in that he is relatively happy as a sixteen-year-old now. He is living a fairly normal life for the time being. That is a special gift.

 

My friend Michelle Malay gave me a book last year called God Is with You Every Day by Max Lucado. It is a 365-day Devotional. The neat thing is that it can be used over and over again. That is worth reading almost as much as a sermon. It is not meant to replace Bible study, but it does spark thoughts in different areas of life. A gift like that can help an attitude almost any day!

 

While still teaching, one of the things posted to my bulletin board was a picture of some shoes. The line underneath said: The man who wanted shoes felt blessed after he met the man who had no feet. The point to me was that there is always someone who needs a blessing more than we do. When we can help someone else, let us bless that person the best way we are able.

 

We never know what will happen each hour of the day, much less what will happen in a week, a month, or a year. We have no assurance that a country, a continent, or a world will remain unscathed by troubles. Yet we do have one assurance: God loves us and wants us for His own. Death has no hold on those who call on God. The thief on the cross did not know any scriptures, any great doctrines, or had probably never even heard of baptism. Yet that thief will be with Christ because he called out to Christ to save him—not from death, because he was already dying, but from the second death. He believed in Christ as the son of God. What greater gift than to be called to believe in Christ as the son of God? ASK for your gift now while you can.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.