What's the Best Gift You've Received Lately?
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| Cross Joann Made for Me |
A few weeks ago a man was walking through our confusing maze
of an office with a clipboard, looking up then down, drawing and then erasing.
When I asked what he was doing he replied that he was drawing a floor plan of
the office. I was perplexed because I had one sitting right on my desk due to
the upcoming office moves. With the curvature of the building, the different
sizes and shapes of the offices and the hidden hallways his task was next to
impossible. You can imagine his elation when I offered to make a copy of the
diagram for him. You would have thought I had given him the best gift ever. A
simple drawing made his job of placing all of the water sprinklers so much
faster and more efficient.
What is the best gift you have ever received? An expensive
piece of jewelry? A trip? A gift of time? Or something entirely different?
Gifts come in different sizes, shapes and forms. Each person
can probably remember ones that impacted their lives in special ways, not
because of the price tag that was attached to it, but due to the meaning,
the circumstance or the giver.
Just in the last year, I have been given gifts by different
people that have touched me to the core. One was for my birthday when my kids planned
the most precious outing for my special day. We took a late afternoon mile
hike in the backcountry to Tennessee Pass Cookhouse for dinner. The fun,
fellowship and conversation along the path was a treasured time, the views were
magnificent at sunset and although the meal was delicious, it’s the time spent
together that will forever be a cherished memory.
My biking buddy Joann gave me another of those things that I
classify as my best gifts. She handcrafted the most beautiful stained glass
cross. After spending hours, days and weeks designing the masterpiece, she made
me laugh when she said it was to thank me for biking the Glenwood Canyon with
her. I love spending time with her, so there was no need for the most
unexpected gift, but it is something I will treasure forever.
My most recent gift has been a vacation retreat in the midst
of selling our home and unsure of the next step. My friend Ashley who spends
the winter season in the mountains and then returns to California has provided
a refuge for us by allowing us to stay in her beautiful condo for a while until
we determine our next resting place. I am amazed by her generosity and sweet
spirit.
And then there was the visit from two friends who corralled my
husband into participating in the scheme to surprise me with a long weekend
filled with activities, fun and laughter.
All of the gifts in their diversity were special and
undeserved. They were gifts of the heart from people that I love and apparently
love me, but as wonderful as they were, they pale in comparison to the gift of
Jesus.
His gift started when He left His place of honor heaven to
become a baby, a human baby so that He could be like us, live like us, be
tempted like us and relate to us. His gift continued as He showed us how to
live without sin and taught us through His words. His gift included giving up
His desires and following the plan that His Father had for Him to do. And the
gift was completed when He chose to lay down on the cross and allow the
soldiers to put the nails into His hands and feet, bearing my sins in His body,
burying them and then leaving them in the tomb when He conquered death.
The gift of Jesus was nothing that I can touch or hold in my
hands, but it is the greatest gift of all time, free of charge and completely undeserved.
His forgiveness and gift of life could not be bought or earned, but was received
gratefully, with amazement and awe that He could love me even though I was a
sinner. Have your received the greatest
gift ever given? If not, today is the best day for it. What are you waiting
for? It will transform the way you look at Easter.
2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His
indescribable gift!
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