The Unopened Gift

This post is written to link with Five Minute Friday: write for five minutes on a one-word prompt. The prompt today is “receive.”

On a desk in our office sits a gift.

It has been carefully chosen for the intended recipient, beautifully wrapped and labelled with their name, and yet, long after Christmas, and over a month after the Secret Santa gifts were exchanged, the person still hasn’t come to the office to receive their gift.

Every time I see the gift, it speaks of unfulfilled potential. I don’t know what is inside, but I do know that it isn’t doing the recipient any good as it sits there on the desk covered in wrapping paper.

It makes me think about God’s gifts to us. We may accept them, but do we truly receive them?

Paul writes to the Corinthians: “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.” (2 Corinthians 6:1 NLT) 

A quick search reveals several other aspects of salvation that are described as gifts of God:

• The Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13)
• Peace of mind and heart (John 14:27)
• God’s promises (Romans 4:16)
• Forgiveness (Romans 5:15)
• Righteousness (Romans 5:17)
• Eternal life (Romans 6:23)
• Spiritual gifts to use for God’s service and to build up the church (Romans 12)
• New life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

We may have accepted these gifts (and they are gifts – we do not have to earn them; we simply have to receive them) but do we truly open them and make the most of them?

They may belong to us, but they won’t do much good sitting there unwrapped!

Which gift would you like to open and explore today?

For me, it is the gift of peace of mind and heart. It is something I can put a lot of time and energy into trying to achieve this, but what if the call is simply to receive?

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