Gifts

We all love the anticipation of opening a big shiny box on our birthday or Christmas. Although we enjoy the decorated beauty of the outside of the surprise, we cannot wait to break through this beauty to behold what is on the inside. The longing for newness drives us to rip through the beauty of the wrapping paper and bow to discover the treasure that will bring delight even if just for a moment.

Sometimes the treasure on the inside is not a treasure at all. We find the pretty wrapping paper and bow deceived us and we wished we had never opened the so-called gift. For it would have looked much prettier and served a better purpose staying on a desk or table. For on a desk or table, we could just look and imagine the treasure that existed on the inside without tainting the outside layers of beauty on the outside.
Other times, we don’t receive a pretty wrapped box and bow at all. We are left wanting something to look at. Something to admire. Something to bring color to our dark world. We tell ourselves, we won’t unwrap the beauty of the outside paper, we will stand afar and appreciate it’s greatness. We beg and plead just for someone to bring hope in the form of intricate wrapping paper put together carefully and flawlessly with a shiny bow.
We all have received gifts. Some of us have received gifts that we long waited for. Some of us have received gifts without even knowing it. Some of us have received gifts that were viewed as curses. Some of us have received gifts that we didn’t want. Some of us are so envious of the gifts that others have received, that we are blind to the gifts that we have received. No matter who you are, you have received gifts in life. Your choice to use them in your relationship with God and His people is in your hands.