12/29/2016 0 Comments Claiming GiftsI’ve heard it said that God wishes to give us good gifts, but most of the time we fail to claim the gifts that God wants to give to us. He takes us to the top of a mountain and says all that you see is yours, and we stand there in praise and thanksgiving, but never take the time to explore the forest beneath us. We’re given the presidential suite, but never make it past the entry way. Instead of boldly stepping forward to claim what is available to us, we just thank Him for the possibility of what might be. We miss out on the abundance by engaging in false humility.
This Christmas, my adorable, four-year-old niece received a book from my son and his girlfriend. It was one of those personalized books with her name printed on every page so she could be a part of the story. The book had been tucked inside a plain white box and them wrapped with pretty paper and lots of ribbon and tape. Her tiny hands had quite a time untying and unwrapping the gift. Her excitement built with each tear of the paper until she finally uncovered the plain white box the paper had hidden. She held the box in her chubby fingers and happily exclaimed “Ooh, a box! Thank You!” She promptly dropped the box and went to the next item she needed to unwrap. We all erupted into laughter and told her there was more to the present than just a plain box. There was actually something more exciting for her. Something colorful and entertaining and wonderful was hers for the taking she just had to claim it. I think we can all be a little like that child at Christmas. We receive a gift from God, we are blessed in some way, but we are in such a hurry to get to the next thing that we don’t explore the gifts that are lying at our feet. The real gift, the thing he most desires for us to have is within our grasp, we only need to dig a little deeper. There is an inherent joy in discovery that we miss when we fail to seek out more than just the surface gifting. The more we explore the wonders of God, the more we discover His plan. The more of His plan we discover, the deeper our faith grows. The deeper our faith, the more we can claim in His name. And the more we claim, the more we can in turn pour out to those around us. The more we get from God, the more we have to give. The gifts God gives us are like icebergs: mammoth, beautiful, and daunting. Only ten percent is visible above sea level, the bulk of it lies beneath the surface of the water. The mass of the berg doesn’t change just because part of it isn’t immediately visible, the abundance of God doesn’t change just because we can’t see that there is more out there than what we are currently experiencing. I think it time to dig a little deeper, explore a little further, and walk a little closer to the gifts we have so that we can come closer to fully realizing what we are meant to do, and then finally do it!
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AuthorI am a Christian, a wife, a mom, and a part-time basket case who wants to be a full time writer.
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