🏳️‍🌈✝️ His Perfect Gifts

The Apostolic Faith Church

12-25-2017

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Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. – James 1:17

Stepping back in time a bit, I remember the Christmas when I was eight years old. That year, work had been hard to find for my dad, who did odd jobs for people and worked, when needed, at the local cannery. After cutting a tree from our immense forest for us to decorate, my father told us Mom was going to bake some cookies. He said that they would have to be our Christmas treat—it was all they could manage. He then went out to do one last job on Christmas Eve. I slipped into bed feeling sorry for myself. 

When I awoke on Christmas morning, I leaped out of bed, but then I remembered, “just cookies.” I slowly walked toward the lighted tree. It looked twice as beautiful close up in the still darkness of winter’s dawn. Then I saw underneath the tree lots of perfectly wrapped gifts. I stood in amazement wondering if I was dreaming! Later, I found out that the lady my dad worked for on Christmas Eve had supplied all these festive treasures. She gave never knowing how much her gifts would mean to us. Nothing I could have done would have come close to repaying her kindness.

Today, I thought of how the Lord’s gifts are like those of that kind lady. His gift of salvation through His Son’s birth and death are priceless to us. It is something we never could have done ourselves. And when we ask Jesus to forgive our sins and come into our hearts, nothing we can do could ever repay this perfect gift. It is not earned or even deserved, but simply comes from His wonderful love for us.

The material gifts we receive may be beautifully wrapped and bring joy for a while. But gifts from God, the Father of lights, though not tied up in sparkling ribbons, are perfect and will stay with us forever if we are faithful to Him. May God’s good and perfect gifts be the ones we share and treasure most.