Gifts and Gift-Givers Response to Gifts I was taking a walk through the woods and admiring the view when my thoughts started to become aware of the amazing things we are given and the sense of wellness that comes from creation. Why do we neglect the gifts that are ever-present around us? I began to reflect on the clear distinction that we often make between gifts and the gift-giver. When a gift doesn’t really match our likes or present needs, our focus might be positive or negative, but we try to understand the gift-giver. “It‘s the thought that counts.” “Why do they keep buying me things I don’t like?” We don’t focus on the gift; we focus our senses, emotions, and thoughts on the giver and the giver’s intentions.  On the other hand, when we receive a gift that is good beyond our expectations, our senses, emotions, and thoughts are often focused on the gift. The new toy or gadget or game and all we can talk about is that thing. We often forget to mention the one who gave it to us. We enjoy the gift, talk about the gift, and use the gift. Who was it that gave this to me? I guess it doesn’t matter as long as I enjoy it.  How do we reconnect the gifts we have received with the gift-giver? When there are people involved, it can be harder since there are many gifts and many gift-givers. My walk in the woods was different. The sunlight, the breeze, the trees, everything was a given from an obvious giver, God.  The Ultimate Gift-Giver Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  God as the ultimate gift-giver, Creator, intimate friend, and omnipotent Father, wants to give us good gifts. He wants to be the one who gives beyond our expectations, to bless us in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. The Father longs for his children to be well in soul, mind, and body. He desires to provide for us in all things visible and invisible. But He is jealous when we focus only on the gift. More than giving, He desires a relationship with us and wants us to focus all of our senses, emotions, and thoughts on Him first.  God also does not want us to ignore His gifts. In my efforts to not worship the gift, I find that I can forget the beauty and the heart of the Gift-Giver. Gifts are given to be used with joy. Rejecting a gift is rejecting the heart of the gift-giver. Do not be afraid of marvelous things found in creation. Sunlight, the universe, water, earth, air, animals, plants, and people are all gifts from God. Do not reject the heart of God that wants to bless you simply because others have chosen to worship the gift rather than the Gift-Giver. A misplaced focus does not weaken the goodness of the gift, it weakens the relationship with the Gift-Giver. Receivers And one of them, a lawyer, asked him [Jesus Christ] a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  As children of God, we are receivers of His gifts. As we receive, we are commanded to focus our heart, soul, and mind on the Gift-Giver, God. Even the gifts given and received by people are things first bestowed to them by God. The command is to Love Him first with all. Then to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Remember that we were just commanded to love the Lord our God with everything, so loving ourselves is a reflection of loving God. Our focus is to be on the Ultimate Gift-Giver. When we receive gifts from Him, do we keep our focus on Him? Do we remember that the importance is the Gift-Giver rather than the gifts given? Even if they are beyond our expectations or seem to be unusual for the circumstances? Is our relationship with God more important than the good gifts He gives us?  The Ultimate Gift from the Ultimate Gift-Giver The ultimate and best gift that God has given us is Himself, Jesus Christ, who gave himself up to pay for the debt of the sins of all mankind. We inherited the debt of sin from our forefathers, Eve and Adam, and have continued to accumulate more debt during our lifetimes. The payment required to satisfy this debt is eternal death. Life is not something we can ever afford ourselves. Our debt is too great and our burden is too heavy. We cannot work our way to becoming debt free. There is only one way to rid ourselves of the burden of our invoice of sin payable only in the currency of death. Accept the gift given by Jesus Christ.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. He was able to pay in the currency of death – death on the cross – to cover all of mankind’s sin invoices at one time, for all time. Jesus conquered death and rose again to Eternal Life. He ever-paid the price of death because His payment was greater than the debt incurred from all of the sin in all of the world for all of time. This gift, like all other…