Can you imagine being a child and waking up Christmas morning excitedly expecting to find a large beautifully wrapped gift under the tree with your name on it, only to discover that there isn’t one? Everyone else in the family has a gift under the tree except you? The rest of the family’s gifts are beautiful and glowing, they are exciting and fun. They all seem to fit their taste and personalities perfectly. Gifts that were obviously chosen specifically for them, but there is no gift for you! How sad and disappointed you would be. How left out and rejected you would feel.
Fortunately you will never face this disappointment because as a son or daughter of man, God always has gifts waiting under his tree with your name on them. They are always available to you if you will just accept them. The first is the gift of salvation. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8) The second gift comes wrapped up in the same package as the first. It is the gift of eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23) Many people try to buy or earn these gifts, but like all true gifts, they cannot be purchased or earned by the recipient. Because of His great love and grace, Jesus has paid the price for these gifts on our behalf. When we receive Jesus, (God’s ultimate gift to mankind) we receive the gift of salvation, and the gift of eternal life, all as a package deal.
As followers of Jesus, God has even more gifts than these for us. Like the variety of gifts under your tree on Christmas morning, God gives each of us specific gifts designed especially for us. Gifts tailor made according to our personality and purpose. Hebrews 2:4 call them the gifts of the Spirit. “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligent; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Rom. 12:6-8 NASV) “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then the gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” (1 Cor. 12:28 NASV) There is no one who is left out. God has a gift for everyone. If you haven’t discovered yours yet, look a little harder. Maybe it is just lying in the corner behind all the torn wrapping paper. Sometimes the gifts others receive may look more appealing than ours. But when we feel this way, it is no doubt because we haven’t fully discovered how to use our gift yet.
God has many wonderful gifts for you this Christmas: the gift of salvation, the gift of eternal life, and the gifts of the Spirit. They were all purchased and wrapped in love especially for you. So don’t let another Christmas pass you by with your gift unopened!
“As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another…” 1 Peter 4:10 Amp
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