IT'S A GIFT
Gifts-whether it's giving them, receiving them, opening them, enjoying them-we love all of it. Obviously Christmas is a big day for that. We might be familiar with the story of the wise men bearing gifts when they visited Jesus but what else does the bible say about gifts?
1) God is a re-gifter!
The idea of gift giving and receiving was a pretty big to-do in the Eastern culture. Smith's bible dictionary for the word gift reads, "The giving and receiving of presents has in all ages been not only a more frequent but also a more formal and significant proceeding in the East than among ourselves. We cannot adduce a more remarkable proof of the important part which presents play in the social life of the East than the fact that the Hebrew language possesses no less than fifteen different expressions for the one idea. The mode of presentation was with as much parade as possible. The refusal of a present was regarded as a high indignity. No less an insult was it not to bring a present when the position of the parties demanded it."
And there was not a more prominent situation that warranted the bringing of gifts than the arrival of the Messiah. That's what we see the wise man do when they entered the presence of Jesus. Matt. 2:9-11, "After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
The wise men presented Jesus with appropriate gifts-gold represented royalty and honored Jesus as a king. The incense honored Jesus as their God and myrrh represented burial signifying Jesus' death. But I wonder what they did with these gifts. Did they hold onto them and give them to Jesus when he grew up? Did they use the incense and myrrh to freshen their house as these things were highly aromatic? Did they sell or trade the gold to have money for provisions? Obviously Jesus himself wouldn't have need for these things as a baby.
So, although the wise men's gifts were for Jesus no doubt Mary and Joseph were the ones who benefitted from them. When someone gives us a gift we don't need or can't use what do we do with it? We re-gift it; we pass it on to someone else who could use it. We might be a little embarrassed if the gift-giver found out about it but at least our intent is to bless someone else. It might make us feel better to know that God is a re-gifter too. God takes what is presented to him and re-gifts it; he blesses someone else with it.
Num. 7:1-6, "When Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings. He also anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils. Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings. They brought as their gifts before the LORD six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two. These they presented before the tabernacle. The LORD said to Moses, “Accept these from them, that they may be used in the work at the Tent of Meeting. Give them to the Levites as each man’s work requires.” So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites."
So, although the gifts were technically for the Lord, they went to benefit the Levites for the work they needed to do. Later in Numbers you see the same thing only with food. The donation was in essence brought to the Lord but it was for the benefit of the workers in the sanctuary. That's how it is with gifts that are given to God. Today we see this regarding tithes and offerings. We are giving back to God a portion of what he's given to us but does it go to God? No, it goes to his church and to ministries and people the church helps to support.
God has no need for money; but people do. God wants for nothing but his creation is in need for many things. God may be the one getting the gifts but we are the ones benefitting from them. God is a re-gifter. And I'm perfectly okay with God taking my gift for him and giving it to someone else. So, if I ever give you a gift and it's not your thing by all means, do the God thing and bless someone else with it.
2) God is the giver of all good gifts.
James 1:17a, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights."
God is the giver of all good gifts. We are not the source; he is. If it's something good it came from God. Some of the good gifts we get from God comes from his creation. Fruits, vegetables, grains; it's all good and it's all from God. When the Lord was extending blessings for the tribes of Israel this was said regarding Joseph in Deut. 33:13-16, "About Joseph he said: “May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below; with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield; with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills; with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush."
God blesses us with the things of the earth. He is God over the harvest and he is in control of it all. He can cause the rain to fall or he can cause there to be a drought. Therefore, the people needed to recognize that the harvest was not a right but a privilege. One could not assume that just because I put the work into it I would automatically be blessed with a bountiful crop. There was more to it than hard work; there was also the need to honor the Lord. There was the need to recognize him as the provider of all the goodness. Yes, hard work pays off but it's only part of the equation; there's more to it than that.
We need to see it the same way today. Take our jobs and income. They are actually gifts from God. Yes, we do the work and we receive the wages but God is still the ultimate provider. He is the one who has given us the ability to work. He is the one who gave us the job. Yes, we have to put in the footwork to look for a job and we are the ones who are doing the work at the job but that doesn't mean we can take the credit or that we are the sustainer of our jobs or anything else we have accumulated.
And at any time if we choose to not honor God by acknowledging his hand in the whole thing he can take it away. He may cause us to become sick or get hurt or he could cause us to lose hours or get laid off; whatever. So, we need to honor God by recognizing him as the source of our jobs and our ability to work so he will continue to bless us. But this doesn't just go for our jobs; this goes for everything else in life too.
Ecc. 3:12-13, "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God."
Life and the ability to enjoy life is a gift from God. We can easily lose sight of that. We get caught-up in the business of life and we can have a tendency to lose a healthy balance between work and play. But when I decide to stop and smell the roses and take it all in, when I choose to appreciate all that I have, it is then that I can begin to see life as a wonderful gift. God wants us to enjoy life; being ever aware that he is the source of all its goodness. And so we need to thank him and serve him.
3) Our abilities are gifts from God.
When we think of gifts from God we might only think of material things. But there are non-material gifts from God too. Our talents and abilities are gifts as well. Have you ever heard someone get complimented about something they did well and they responded with, "it's a gift". Actually, that's true. You may be a natural, you may be a gifted individual, but you still can't claim responsibility for the wonderful abilities you possess; they are a gift from God.
Rom. 12:6a, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."
The talents, abilities and spiritual gifts we have are not something we can take the credit for; they are given in accordance with the grace (unmerited favor) of God. Like I mentioned earlier in regards to our jobs, although we put in the work and training, God is still the giver of the gift. If I'm a talented artist or writer or carpenter; if I'm a good speaker or teacher or whatever, God is the one who has imparted that ability in me. And yes, we need to take that gift and develop it but the credit belongs to God. To think that all I can do and accomplish is entirely of my own doing is prideful and it lacks recognition of God.
And, as I said earlier in regards to our jobs or things we have, that if we don't want to honor God with them he can take them away, he can do the same thing with our abilities. If we aren't appreciative and thankful he may very well remove them from us. One major way we honor God with the spiritual gifts and abilities he's given to us is simply by using them. You might think it would be automatic that we would be doing what we were gifted in but that's not always the case. Have you ever heard someone being described as a person who was letting their talent go to waste? Why do we do that? We don't think we can do something that well, we may be gifted in something we don't really have an interest in; things like that.
However, God gives us talents and abilities for a reason; he wants us to use them. And not just use them but use them to serve his divine purpose. 1st Pet. 4:10, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms."
When God gifts us with the ability to do something it's not only for our benefit but also for the benefit of others and it's for the advancement of the kingdom of God and for the glory of God. Sadly, though, not everyone uses their gifts to glorify God-they use them to glorify self. But when a person gets saved God takes those gifts and talents and uses them to bring glory to his Name. And the interesting thing is that when we come to Christ we see those gifts and talents blossom into something more magnificent than what it was before.
3) The greatest gift of all.
What was your favorite Christmas gift ever? Big Wheel. But no matter what you consider the greatest Christmas gift of all time; no matter who you think is the most generous gift giver ever-God's got it beat. And as many wonderful blessings he has given us over the years there's one that tops them all-Jesus. We are here today celebrating that indescribable gift. God let his son go and gave him to us as a gift. A gift that would keep on giving; right up until the very end.
And along with the gift of Jesus comes the gift of eternal life. Rom. 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now remember, a gift cannot be earned, it can only be accepted. We earned spiritual death from sin but in order to have spiritual life we need to put our faith in Christ.
Eph. 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Just like every other gift from God, we can't take the credit. We didn't earn it, we didn't accomplish it; all we could do was faithfully accept it and develop it.
And when we do accept Jesus and receive the gift of eternal life we also receive another gift-the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Peter preached the first sermon at Pentecost, it says the people were convicted about their sin and they asked Peter what they needed to do. Acts 2:38, "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Having the Holy Spirit come and live inside me truly is a wonderful gift. He reveals and reminds me of God's truth. He brings light to the darkness that I might see things more clearly. He guides me along the way by speaking wisdom to me. He comforts me when I'm down; he strengthens and motivates me when I'm weak. He empowers me to do the things of God; which include using my spiritual gifts. When we rejoice in the fact that we have been given the best gifts ever: Jesus, salvation and the Holy Spirit; then we will have the merriest Christmas ever.
