How do we value a lavish supply of gifts? It's difficult, to say the least.
A company I once worked for assigned me to a project at a wealthy family's home. It was December, and an astonishing pile of presents were sorted and heaped for each of the family's grandchildren. I'm certain that this was a yearly ritual, and I suspected that the gratitude level of these overly-indulged grandchildren was considerably less than those who received meager fare on Christmas morning.
Here's the rub: our Father has indulged us with lavish gifts to an unimaginable degree, but how do we maintain humble gratitude? Until we know how desperately we need the gift, we'll likely not value it as we must.
"as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." (Romans 3:10-12)
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
Someone once suggested that grace cannot be truly appreciated until we have genuinely tried works. I suspect that is so. This comment, from someone who had sought to keep the impossible Law of God, caused me to realize that grace is all too often, in the words of Bonheoffer, "cheap grace". Grace that we do not value easily becomes license for worldly living, rather than the holiness that the Holy One requires. Unless we deeply value the gift, we will cheapen it through ingratitude.
We are those who are "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). The gift is diminished in value if we lose sight of the price paid for it.
Valuing the gift and the Givers is the ongoing need and challenge. And perhaps the place to develop - and redevelop - the appropriate gratitude is to return to the best-known Bible verse of all: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (the life of the age to come)" (John 3:16).
May God grant us appreciation of us His indescribable gift such that we live in awe and holiness today and every day.
Steve
A company I once worked for assigned me to a project at a wealthy family's home. It was December, and an astonishing pile of presents were sorted and heaped for each of the family's grandchildren. I'm certain that this was a yearly ritual, and I suspected that the gratitude level of these overly-indulged grandchildren was considerably less than those who received meager fare on Christmas morning.
Here's the rub: our Father has indulged us with lavish gifts to an unimaginable degree, but how do we maintain humble gratitude? Until we know how desperately we need the gift, we'll likely not value it as we must.
"as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." (Romans 3:10-12)
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
Someone once suggested that grace cannot be truly appreciated until we have genuinely tried works. I suspect that is so. This comment, from someone who had sought to keep the impossible Law of God, caused me to realize that grace is all too often, in the words of Bonheoffer, "cheap grace". Grace that we do not value easily becomes license for worldly living, rather than the holiness that the Holy One requires. Unless we deeply value the gift, we will cheapen it through ingratitude.
We are those who are "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). The gift is diminished in value if we lose sight of the price paid for it.
Valuing the gift and the Givers is the ongoing need and challenge. And perhaps the place to develop - and redevelop - the appropriate gratitude is to return to the best-known Bible verse of all: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (the life of the age to come)" (John 3:16).
May God grant us appreciation of us His indescribable gift such that we live in awe and holiness today and every day.
Steve
posted by steve @ 8:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home