He waltzed into my classroom with eyes beaming with excitement and joy. In his hands was a white box with “Mrs. Saylor and Mrs. Falk, Love Bailey” written in perfectly feminine handwriting on the top. Clearly, this gift was for his teachers. As he came closer to my desk- the delicate scent of sweetness wafted its way to my senses. In our sleepy cow town there isn’t much around, so when someone goes to “Johnson’s Bakery” you know it was a trek to obtain such decadent goodness. The joy this boy couldn’t contain was because he found more joy in the giving than the receiving. However, I learned a different principle.
Our Source of Beautiful Gifts
God is the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17). He is the source of all good because He IS GOOD. Everything He does, says, acts upon, is good. When we think about this principle of God being the good gift giver, or Him being the source of all good we receive, I find there to be a disconnect in my heart. It is such an abstract concept. We see evidences of the Gift Giver, but to tangibly SEE Him fully… is impossible right now in this life. But this morning, I saw a truth of Scripture brought to flesh, real life. As this sweet boy brought the box of donuts to me, I realized the beauty of the TRUE gift giver: his mother. Her handwriting written across the top (evidence of her being the true gift giver), the thought behind it, the time she gave up, the resources spent, and the joy she felt to hand those donuts to HER SON to give to me. Oh, if this isn’t the Gospel I don’t know what is!
He Makes It Possible
Our Heavenly Father gives such precious gifts all the time, all around us, in infinite forms through His limitless creativity. And He uses mediums- His people, His Word, Creation- as the mode in which to sweetly and joyfully give us His gifts. As we seek to give the gift of our time, resources, creativity to those around us, may we never forget that our Father is the One who makes that possible. Just like this mother, who made it possible for her son to give this thoughtful morsel of goodness to his teachers, so our God does the same. Any gift we could offer someone comes from Someone who makes it possible. Someone whose ways are higher, whose joy is exceedingly deeper, and who delights in gifting all things to His children. And He makes it possible through His Son.
Beautiful.
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