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Jesus gave gifts to His people (Ephesians 4:8b, NLT).
Christmas Day, traditionally celebrated for gift-giving, is our time to give and receive gifts from family and friends, but today, let’s also give praise to our gift-giving Jesus!
One Christmas Day, many years ago, I had a “the little boy that Santa forgot” experience. My family settled around the Christmas tree to begin distributing gifts, and the total was (yes, I kept track):
- My sister with 12 gifts and
- Myself with 1 gift.
HHHHMMMHHM???!!
Admittedly, I was especially naughty that year, with my orneriness culminating the previous September with me throwing a rotten apple at a passing car, with the apple passing through an open front window and splattering on the face of a young teenager.
No one was ultimately hurt, and I thought a stern warning from my parents to never do such a thing again should have been the end of the matter.
Now, on Christmas morning, the gift count was 12 to 1!
I held back my tears and tried to look happy. Losing the gift count on Christmas could be devastating for a young boy. I was making the best of it, but I thought that I would need a lifetime of counseling.
Have you counted your spiritual gifts? Have you ever felt that you lost the gift count to the more glamorous, large ministry and more influential gifting of other believers?
In Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4, about 21 spiritual gifts are listed. Because 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a spiritual gift,” we know that our gift count is at least “1.”
From an eternal perspective, the number of gifts doesn’t matter, but Jesus’s concern is how we use our gifts. He gave them to us, so Jesus exhorts us to “Employ them in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
Back to the “the little boy that Santa forgot” Christmas Day. . .
While I sat frozen at the Christmas tree with a hollow smile and an empty cup of hot chocolate, my father said, “Hey, what’s behind the couch?” Light began shining in the darkness, and angels started singing, “Hallelujah,” as my dad began pulling package after package from behind the couch until. . .
Gift count:
- My sister with 12 gifts and
- Myself with 10 gifts!!!
I still lost the gift count, but my joy was restored. Some of you might be thinking of my father’s actions as cruel and unusual punishment, but then you never had to raise me!
Jesus never withholds or withdraws His gifts as His gift and calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), but our naughtiness can limit the effectiveness of these gifts. The gift count doesn’t really matter, but our servant’s heart enables His gifts to bring forth a good return for the Kingdom of God.
A final note on “the little boy that Santa forgot” Christmas Day. One of the gifts was a BB gun, and I’m not divulging whether I was naughty or nice the next year.
Bible gift count in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4 equals …
21 gifts!
What are your gifts? Are you using them?
Merry Christmas!