Simply Priceless

“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will instead give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will instead give him a snake? If you then, sinful by nature as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven—perfect as He is—give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him?”—Matthew 7:9-11, Amplified

When a child tells his parents what he really wants for Christmas, unless that thing is harmful in some way or would blow up your entire holiday shopping budget, you can’t help but want to come through. A parent’s beating heart for his children is unlike any other.

Except for One.

It is good to know that whenever the words “God, please give me ___________” cross our lips, He not only hears, He loves to bring that which is “good and advantageous” to our souls in our time of need. Patience. Hope. Wisdom. Guidance. Faith. Understanding. Discernment. Whatever is in your “top ten.”

Even better to remember that while God’s best gift-giving moment was sending His Son to be born for us, it was only the opening pages of the full Love Story yet to unfold. It’s a reminder that God’s gift-giving is not confined to a day in December, and that there are many gifts that He wants us to open over and over again in January, April August, and September, and all the days in between. Gifts that are good and advantageous 24/7 because they counter the adversary’s lies and accusations we may have begun to believe about ourselves.

And if there is one gift above all that we Christ-ones need to open every day, it is the gift of assurance—to receive and embrace our true identity as a child of God against a daily tide of accusation and doubt, loved unfailingly and locked in place forever, even with a prone-to-wander heart:

• “…But whoever did want Him, who believed He was also who He claimed and would do what He said, He made to be their true selves—their child-of-God selves.”—John 1:14, Message
• "Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children….My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now. The full picture of our destiny is not yet clear, but we know this much: when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.”—1 John 3:1-2, The Voice

Lord, thank You that Your simplest and best gifts are not just for a season but for a lifetime. Thank You for becoming flesh and blood and moving into our neighborhood to stay, and for Your parent’s beating heart for Your kids that is unlike any other. This is amazing grace! This is amazing love!

“God makes us happy as only children can be happy. God wants to always be with us, wherever we may be—even in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no long alone; God is with us! We are no longer homeless—a bit of the Eternal Home itself has moved unto us!”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer