giving

Saturday, December 15, 2012 (4:56 a.m.)

Most Holy Father God,

Thank You! We had an impromptu visit from a young family last night. It was a true gift in ever sense of the word. Traveling to the nearby mountains they stopped to share a meal, use our facilities, borrow an item and ultimately gave us the greatest gift. Their time. Unhurried. Playful. Spontaneous.

Thank You God. Thank You Jesus. In this time of preparing our hearts and our home for the celebration of Your birth, I got to sit and enjoy unrehearsed conversation. There was fun. Laughter. Even a reluctance to leave. And the promise to come again.

As I examine the eagerness with which I am looking forward to their return tomorrow, I am keenly aware that THIS is the excitement I am to have in the planning and waiting for Your Second Coming!

My thoughts thus far this morning have been of what holiday decorations I want to have out for their revisit. While it's been just the husband and myself here all this time, readying the house hasn't been a big priority. But now there's a reason! Loved ones are coming.

Jesus, as I look further at this subject of giving of our time and energy, I desperately want You to be glorified and honored in every effort we make. Here I get to read in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians (8:1-9:15) where much is said about giving. He saw it as a privilege in following the example You set when “though He was rich, yet to help you He became so very poor” (8:9b).

The Truth that we can't outgive God is reiterated throughout this section as we take a good look at all the Father provides. Just when it seems 'giving' couldn't possibly get any more exciting, we come to the last verse of this section. And a whole new avenue opens up.

The Living Bible paraphrase says “Thank God for His Son – His Gift too wonderful for words” (2Corinthians 9:15).

Without mentioning Jesus at all, other translations use words like: “gift so great that no words can ever tell it all!”, “No language can praise it enough”, “indescribable gift!”, “unspeakable gift”, “inexpressible”, “unutterable bounty”, “generosity”, “priceless”, “words cannot describe”, “beyond telling”...

A sermon by Wayne Solomon entitled God's Unspeakable Gift ends thusly, “Human religions do not reveal Him. Human thought cannot conceive Him. Human psychology cannot analyze Him. Mathematicians cannot calculate Him and computers cannot compute Him. Explorers cannot discover Him. He is the ultimate adventure, the supreme thriller, the most exciting, amazing, astounding, astonishing, startling, remarkable, wonderful, incredible, awesome gift. He is the gift that keeps on giving. He gives help to the helpless, He gives hope to the hopeless, He gives health to the sick. He gives peace to the troubled, He gives tranquility to the uneasy. He gives strength to the weak, He gives blessing to the meek, He gives comfort to the mournful, He gives joy to the sorrowful. He is food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, rest for the weary. He loves the unlovely, He encourages the discouraged, He lifts up the fallen, He delivers the oppressed and He comforts the grieving. So this year I want Jesus for Christmas. I want God’s unspeakable gift.”

Blessed Father, as You continue teaching me more about giving, help me be such a better giver. Thank You so very much for all I have yet to learn. I love You so very much. Amen.

(589 words ~ 7:34 a.m.)