God’s Gift of …

Over the past four weeks, we learned that Christ is the gift of: a light, confronting our ignorance of God, exposing our rebellion against Him and shattering the power of death over us. a King who reigns and rules in a complete way over all things. a High Priest who institutes a better covenant, a better law, a better temple, and a better sacrifice through His death and resurrection. a promise of new and eternal life.

What do we do when we receive a gift? When receiving a gift, we either: reject it exchange it accept it and fail to put it to use accept it and put it to use

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13:1-9)

Response #1: Rejection When a gift is rejected, it nearly invariably has more to do with the gift giver, than with the gift itself. Because of our enemy’s influence, sometimes an immediate rejection of the gift of Jesus occurs. Like a well-travelled pathway, our hearts have been hardened toward God by the influence of sin and evil. In an incredible act of mercy and love, like hardened soil being broken up and tilled so that it would receive a sown seed, the hardness of our hearts broken up by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, permitting the gospel message to be received. Let us pray for these family members, friends, and acquaintances that God’s Spirit will begin a work in them, softening their hearts to accept the seed of God’s message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Response # 2: Exchange it! Sometimes people really do accept the gift that is Jesus Christ, but after some time, they either find no use for it or they find it no longer fits their needs and they seek to exchange it for a better gift. Often the “Christianity” we sell is not the following of Jesus we see in Scripture. The scriptural following of Jesus is a difficult path, but this kind of message doesn’t “sell” well in our culture, so often the message of Jesus is softened. For these people, let us offer gentle encouragement and correction, coming alongside those new to the faith in such a way that we can both confront false understandings and encourage the development of deeper roots.

Response # 3: Accept it but shelve it! Sometimes, people eagerly accept Christ and take off early on in their relationship with Jesus, but slowly over time, Christ and all things related find themselves shelved. We see this “choking-out” response when one is not discipled to maturity in Jesus Christ. The passage of time does not guarantee maturity. Discipleship is one of the main jobs of the church – the people of God. Let us commit to coming alongside at least one other person in their discipleship and let us be open ourselves to being discipled by someone else.

Response #4: Accept it and use it The best gifts are the ones that have an immediate impact on our living. These are the people who receive the message of Jesus Christ with joy, who see their lives oriented around the message of Jesus Christ, and who disciple and are discipled. What does the “crop” of a follower of Jesus look like? The fruit of a follower of Jesus is another follower of Jesus. We are all to be “re-gifters” – we are to receive the gift that is Jesus Christ and then re-gift it, passing it along to another through our lives, by word and action.

Three Questions What kind of soil am I? If I consider myself good soil, what does my production look like? Often discipleship occurs by the centimeter, not the kilometer. Ask yourself; by your influence, are there those around you who are closer to the Kingdom of God today than they were yesterday? Are there those who are showing greater maturity in Jesus through your relationship with that person? As the new year approaches, what am I going to do differently with the gift that is Jesus next year?