The Gift

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ (When he said, ‘living water,’ he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)” John 7:37-39 JCB

    The parenthesis, or brackets, in this passage are like Christmas wrapping paper! The parenthesis wraps a promise, one of the greatest gifts from God we have received. It’s almost like Jesus placed a present under the tree for everyone when He shouted to the crowd.

  Unlike the people of Jesus’ day, we don’t have to wait until some far off future date to open it.

  It is something to be very thankful for, isn’t it? We have the Holy Spirit with us the moment we believe Jesus is the Son of God and invite Him into our lives. There’s no waiting. No apprenticeship. No testing. Nothing is needed to prove our worthiness for this most precious of presents.

  We don’t need to be good little boys and girls. The Elf on the Shelf does not exist in the realm of faith and grace.

  The gift of the Holy Spirit isn’t a reward for good behavior but the Holy Spirit will guide us into making better choices if we let Him.

  That’s another wonderful, blessed thing about this relationship with the Spirit of God. We are filled but we are not controlled by Him.

  The Lord knows I don’t always make the right choice. He also knows I don’t always listen.

  Why is that?

  (Smile.) Because I have my own parentheses that interject a whack of resistance to living in and through a life with Jesus: plain ole busyness, justification, excuses, sin, habits, and a strong disliking of being told what to do!

  God knows this about me. (Another smile.)

  Even so, my parentheses are a blessing because my weaknesses allow me to experience the limitless grace of God. Repenting of these imperfections allows me to receive His forgiveness. Having received, I am able to be more forgiving. It’s a win-win situation. And, I confess, one that takes practice. (It’s a smiling morning although this one has a generous helping of chagrin. Cha-grin is still a smile!)

  Nevertheless, experiencing God’s grace makes me want more! It makes me want to please the Lord even more. It makes me want to delete the interjections from my life. (Except for the smiles.)

  It’s about being reshaped into the person God designed me to be. It’s about wanting to be reshaped, the deepest desire of my heart. And that, my friends, is the only journey that matters.

  And (a huge, delighted, childish grin erupts!) I have the Holy Spirit to help me, guide me into becoming so much better than I am. What a beautiful present! AMEN!