You always have something to give

It’s a clear autumn/fall Florida morning. The turkey buzzards have been circling over the river for hours. Obviously hunting breakfast. This thought led me to think about other references to God’s care for the birds.

Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

When you think about the animal kingdom, you find that they pretty much live day by day. We humans have to store vast amounts of things to ensure our future necessities are met. I’m not saying that it is a bad thing to be prepared for an emergency, but daily we should take no thought.

At this stage of my life, I have pretty much scaled down to mostly necessary daily “stuff.” I look around my apartment and am determined with this last move that all I wanted around me were things that hold a memory.

My dearest treasure is a teapot with little chubby legs wearing polka dot socks and Mary Jane shoes. The set includes two cups, a creamer, and a sugar bowl. These precious little character-laced charmers bring joy to my heart that words can’t describe. My son gave me these as a gift on Mother’s Day with the forewarning that when he saw this gift, it reminded him of me.

As the anticipation increased the day the box arrived, and I began to carefully move the tissue paper aside, the first thing I saw was a white lid to a teapot. I was pretty sure a gayly painted teapot was about to emerge. The more I uncovered the handle, spout, and finally the little round belly of the pot, it was all white!

I thought my son thinks his mother looks like a plain white teapot? Imagine how my heart filled with an unspeakable joy as my eyes overflowed when I pulled the teapot out to find its little legs and shoes!

I could hardly breathe. By the time the whole little family was unwrapped, my heart had been won over. Maybe it was my creative writer’s heart that caused me to see these new family members each having their own personality from that day on.

I shared about how hard it is sometimes to find where the sugar bowl has gotten off to. You probably have heard or said that something you’re looking for has grown legs and walked off! It gives me added joy to envision them trotting about the apartment at night while I’m sleeping.

Giving of gifts is one of the love languages. My son certainly hit a home run with this gift. He has, with many others, too, but this one has always been the best.

Which leads me to my title today. There is a gift that we always have to give to someone that is perfect. It fits every person in any walk of life. Man, woman, or child. That Gift is giving them Jesus. When Peter and John went to the temple, they ran into a lame man begging alms. They didn’t have any material thing to give this man, but they didn’t just walk away. They offered him what they did have in their possession. “Silver and gold have we not, but in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” That day, this man was given the most precious gift anyone had ever offered to him. It was a life-changing gift. Being lame had robbed him of all the everyday life events.

What if Peter and John had simply looked at their empty coin purse and said, “Sorry, we don’t have anything to give you,” and walked off? But they knew from being with Jesus that they had been given an endless supply of what other people need in their lives. And had been told to give it freely.

Isn’t it amazing that the most costly gift we as Christians have to give to another person was free to us and is free to give away?

But the truth is, this gift wasn’t free to the One who fulfilled the gift. It cost Jesus his very life. It cost him everything he had in this world. He was sent by the Father and cared for like the birds of the air. Every day, every second, Jesus was given what he needed for his life and those who walked with them. This man Jesus never owned anything, never had a big financial bankroll, no warehouse filled with material goods, and yet in every single situation, Jesus had exactly what was needed. Sometimes it was just to hear the truth. As Christians, we carry with us the perfect gift to give away to anyone God brings into our lives. And like my son’s statement of it looking just like me, Jesus fits everyone.

If you don’t feel like you have anything to give today, but you have the Gift of salvation through Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, then you have a gift that will fill another person’s life with everything they need. And we can give it away freely!

Freely we have received, freely we are told to give.

I always end with I bless you… that blessing is offering you your own walk with God.

I pray that you will receive this offer today.

I bless you!