As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 2 Corinthians 6:1

2 Corinthians 6:1

Imagine your family gathered around your tree on Christmas morning. The gifts are handed out, and in a flurry of torn paper, colorful ribbons, squeals of delight, and joyful thank yous all around, each gift is opened. Except for one! That one gift, the biggest, most beautiful one, has your name on it, and you’ve saved the best for last. So you carefully remove the paper, open the box, smile real big at its contents, and then you put it away—on a shelf, in a closet, or under your bed. It isn’t that you aren’t grateful for the gift, but it isn’t something you feel you need right now. Eventually the paper and bows are all cleaned up, the tree comes down, life gets back to normal, seasons pass, and your special gift is more or less forgotten. 

Millions of people receive that same gift, the gift of salvation, but never put it to use. The greatest gift any of us will ever receive is the incredible gift of life in Jesus. But so many people stop there. They only see the gift of God’s Son as a ticket to heaven. They accept the gift, but they forget that faith requires action. Jesus wants a relationship with each one of us, but sometimes we “put Him away” and put every other thing before Him. We understand the truth of John 3:16—For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And we appreciate God’s gift of grace and love and life, but we put away the relationship and miss out on the greatest adventure of our lives. 

If you have accepted Jesus but have no interest in a relationship with Him, you have put away a beautiful part of His most generous gift. If you hide your faith or simply keep it to yourself, you may as well put it on a shelf, in a closet, or under your bed, because you are missing out on the greatest, most life-changing relationship of your life. Inside that box is a beautiful love story that will never grow old, even if you have ignored it for a while. When you love the Giver of Life and accept His priceless gift, the only appropriate response is to parade it around in front of as many people as possible. Not in a “look at me and my amazing gift” kind of way, but in a “come join this incredible parade” kind of way. God is your perfect Father, and He has given you exactly what you need. And when someone who loves you gives you their most precious possession, there should be more than a few big smiles, squeals of delight, and joyful thank you’s all around. When Jesus is the Gift, there must be lifelong worship, endless praise, and daily surrender to the One who gave it all for you. God’s gift will never leave you, and it is a gift that gets better and better the more it’s used! So take it out, dust it off, and plan a grand parade! You are deeply loved!