Sunday, December 7, 2008

And he said to me, "It is done. I Am The Alpha And The Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I Will Give Freely (without cost) from the spring of the water of life. Rev. 21:6.

Our God is the greatest of all givers. In Jesus Christ He sent the greatest gift ever presented to the human race. Because of the cross, the water of life is freely available to all who recognize their thirst(John 7:37-39). Sin, however, makes many of us deeply unwilling to accept the gifts of God. To receive a gift is to, insome degree, lost control of our lives. As a result, many vulnerable people feel reluctant to take gifts, even those from God.

And e-mail I received some time ago well illustrates this human tendency. A friend, recounitng evangelistic experiences in the Philippiens, repoerte dthe following story.

"During the first night of the series I noticed a young preteen girl that seemed grumpy. She was constantly out of sorts with the people around her. When I bent down and simply asked what her name was, she seemed a little shocked but managed to blurt our, 'Sherry.'

"From that moment on I made it a special misison always to greet her and smile at her whenever I met her. Sherry would react ambiguously by both smiling and running away. At times she would run behind where I was sitting and lightly touch me on the shoulder and then disappear into the crowd.

"Sherry always wore a pin that kept her hair in a neat bun. Wanting to express my affection for her, I purchased another hairpin and gave it to her. She put the pin on once, but a few minutes later she reappeared with nothing in her hair. From that point on, Sherry wore nothing in her hair when she came to the meetings. The message was quite clear. Nobody gets close to her, and she was going to show me just who was in control of the situation.

"The last day of the meetings were coming up, and I decided to take a risk and buy the girl another present for her hair. This time it was a bright-pink heart with a rubber band attached. I had the hair clip in a plastic bag and dropped it in her lap while she was sitting. Sherry acted a little startled, and I walked away, because I knew I had disturbed her comfort zone.

"I didn't see the child much the rest of the day. I thought perhaps I shouldn't have risked giivng her another gift. But as I was leaving, a hand reached out to faintly touch my elbow. Running away as usual, a smile on her face, in her hair Sherry had the bright-pink tie I had given her that morning! A deep sense of peace and satisfacion filled my soul. She had finally accepted the gift.

Lord, give me the courage to accept You greatest Gift and allow Him to mold my life in whatever way You will

And it will be found at last that the denial of self for the good and happiness of others, however humble and uncommended here, is recognized in heaven as the token of our union with Him, the King of glory, who was rich, yet for our sake became poor.(TFMB 82).