A Gift
for you
by:
Pastor Dan M. Appel
They say that there's no free lunch, but that's not always true. There are some things in life that are truly gifts.
A gift is something that you cannot earn - no matter how hard you work for it. You cannot even deserve it. If you deserve a gift, you really have earned it.
You basically have three options with a gift. You can accept it; you can ignore it; and you can reject it. Which you choose is often determined by how you estimate it's value.
My sister and I trade "white elephant" gifts every Christmas. Two years ago she sent me one of the homliest gifts I have ever seen. It was actually so ugly it had a strange sort of class to it. It was a wreath made up of pheasant wings and tail feathers. Some loving wife probably made it for her hunter husband's den where it resided until it made it's fateful trip to a second-hand store where my sister found it.
My wife's reaction to this amazing creation when it appeared out of the Christmas box was one of immediate rejection. For the life of her, She could see no value or beauty in it and told me that if it were to ever be hung up on our premises it would be out in my shop - preferrably in a place where she never had to set eyes on it.
I recently dug a gift sent to me by a credit card company out of the back of my desk drawer. It is a silver plated business card holder. That holder is very pretty, but to be honest, is something I have never had any interest in using. So, it has hibernated for several years in the dusty recesses of my desk - only seeing the light of day when I had to move it aside to find some treasure which had gradually shifted its way to the back of the drawer. A gift is only truly a gift when it is accepted and appreciated. I accepted the package when it came from the credit card company, but it was not something which I had any need or desire for. It did not fit my personality, my wardrobe, lifestyle, or interests.
Another type of gift that goes unclaimed and appreciated is the one that we know nothing about. I am told that there are millions of dollars in unclaimed inheritances scattered across our country. Land, holdings, property and money are left to people who never hear of the generosity of their benefactor. Some of these gifts have sat unclaimed, in bank safety deposit boxes and lawyers files for over a century.
Whether openly rejected, or just plain ignored, the results ultimately were the same for all of those gifts. Because my wife and I failed to discern the value of the first two gifts, they never became a real valued part of our lives. The same is true of those gifts we never found out about. (If you know of any, you can contact me at the church address and I will be happy to claim them.)
Over the next few weeks I'd like to tell you about some gifts you may have never known that you had. Or, there may be some on the list that you have never realized were as valuable as they really are. (Sort of like discovering oil or gold beneath a stretch of desert willed to you by that eccentric cousin you befriended at the last family reunion.) These are gifts to you from God that you cannot earn or deserve. All you need to do is to accept them for what they are - a loving bequest from someone who loves you so much He would do anything in His power to make you truly happy. I hope that you'll drop by each week and discover their value and desirability and that you will claim them for your own.
We also talk about these gifts every week in our church services We'd love to have you drop by and hear about them first hand. We'll look forward to seeing you. And, while you're there, slip over and introduce yourself to me. Your friendship is a gift I'd love to have.
© Dan M. Appel
