Gift or Giver
By Peggy Kleckner
“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all-how will He
not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”
Romans 8:32
(NIV)
The Christmas season always seems to
bring reflection of previous Christmas seasons. I found myself smiling the
other day as I recalled one particular gift opening at a family gathering.
Two of our sons were in their teens
and each had received a gift from their aunt and uncle. One opened the gift and
found a tootsie roll bank. Out of obligation and good manners, he graciously
thanked them for the gift and laid it aside. The other son opened his gift,
found a tootsie roll bank and knowing the character of this aunt and uncle
proceeded to open the bank, dump out the candy and found in the midst a gift
card… the true gift. He found the treasure hidden. He knew to look because he
knew who had given him the gift.
Though the second son at first
offered to take the bank from his brother, he did eventually tell him to look
past the appearance of the gift and dump out its contents!
How did one know to look beyond what
he saw on the outside? He simply refused to believe that the giver would give so
little because in the past they had given much more. He wasn’t going to believe
that there wasn’t more until he poured it all out and searched it all
completely.
Sometimes life looks difficult and
my way seems strewn with hardship or pain, as if nothing good could possibly be
in it. In those times, I try and remember this lesson. I am willing to search
it for the good that the Giver of all good gifts has tucked away in it. I look
for the hidden treasure because I have come to know and trust God’s character.
Too often, we settle for so much
less because we won’t look past what we see with our physical eyes. We won’t
believe bigger and dig deeper. We trust our eyes and not His heart.
GOING
DEEPER:
1. Where
are you settling for less than all He wants to give you because you won’t go
back and dump out the contents of your life and look for the true gift?
2. Who do
you need to tell about the hidden treasure you have already found?
FURTHER
READING:
Peggy is a wife
and mother of four adult children - - two sons and two stepsons, and is an
active encourager at Oakwood Church in Delafield.
