Unopened Presents

Do any of you have unopened presents leftover from Christmas? (Let’s be honest here. Some of you still have your trees up from Christmas. You know who you are! 😉) I’m referring to gifts that were given to you that you’ve chosen not to open. They are still sitting there, packaged in colorful wrapping with a beautiful bow. Sometimes we have unopened presents left in our house because we haven’t seen the person we’re giving the gift to yet. But they don’t stay that way for long. As soon as the gift is given, it’s unwrapped. You may be wondering where I’m going with this. Stick with me! I promise I have a point.

The Best Gift Ever!

Every single person on earth is offered an invaluable, everlasting gift: salvation through Jesus Christ by the grace and eternal love of God. John 3:16 says, “For God SOOOOOO loved the world that he GAVE his one and ONLY Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have EVERLASTING LIFE.” (emphasis mine- I’ve always wanted to write that!) The greatest gift that has ever been given, the most exquisite and most valuable and most life-changing gift EVER is that of salvation only found through Jesus Christ. For everyone, this gift has been offered. But for so many, it has yet to be accepted.

WAIT! There’s more!

I feel like I’m an announcer on an infomercial… “But wait! There’s more! If you accept this free gift that’s been offered you’ll also receive….. A lifetime installation of so much more. We can’t even imagine!!!!! A few weeks ago, I did a lesson for a small women’s group on peace. The more I think about peace, the more I have realized that peace is an underused, underappreciated, misunderstood gift. Philippians 4:6-8 promises,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

What a gift! We pray and petition, we give thanks, we trust in the Lord, and He gives us peace that passes anything we can understand on our own. Who doesn’t want that kind of peace?

But it’s not something that magically happens. The gift of peace is given to us, but we have to accept it. Psalm 34:14 says, “Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.” It’s a gift that has been given, but in order to accept it, we have to seek peace, desire it, chase after it. How do we do this? Isaiah 26:3 proclaims, “You will keep in perfect peace whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.” It sounds to me like the key to accepting the gift of peace is keeping our mind on the Lord and trusting him. This seems very simple, but it takes a lot of intentionality and faith.

So many books, lessons, sermons, and people around me lately have brought my mind back to these unwrapped presents. Recently, my pastor dropped a number in his sermon and I’ve thought about it ever since. He said there are over 30 things that happen to us when we receive salvation. I immediately thought of the Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) and the Armor of God (truth, righteousness, more peace, faith, salvation, The Holy Spirit, and prayer). I believe these are part of the list Pastor referred to, but there’s even more than these two groups of gifts.

I just started a Bible Study by Priscilla Shirer (I love her!!!) called Armor of God. In one of the sessions, she had participants read Ephesians 1:18-21 and 3:14-19. Then she asked us to jot down the details of Paul’s prayer. Here are all the gifts I found in these few verses: hope, riches of his glorious inheritance, incomparably great power, strength, The Holy Spirit, Christ’s love- love that surpasses knowledge, and all the fullness of God. If you are a believer, you have access to all this… and more.

Satan’s Delight

I mentioned that this idea of unopened presents has been all around me. I’ve decided my word for this year is stewardship. I feel so blessed by all God has given me and I feel compelled to be a better steward of the time, talents, and treasures He’s granted me. Because of this pursuit of being a better steward, I have been reading the book Kingdom Steward by Tony Evans. Y’all, it’s soooooo good. Leaves me inspired every time I dive in! I want to share with you Tony’s illustration of these gifts we’ve been given. In the book, he describes the benefits that come with the covenant relationship we, as believers, have with the Lord. He paints the picture of how we miss out on our benefits in this way:

A person can have an umbrella and not use the umbrella. If you are holding an umbrella but do not open the umbrella, you are still uncovered. The reality today is that far too many Christians are in the covenant but the covenantal benefits and covering have been closed to them. Effectively, they are living spiritually uncovered lives. This lack of covering leaves the door open for Satan to have his way with them. What the enemy wants most is for believers to close their umbrella, or tuck them away in the garage or some far-off location where they will remain unused and unaccessed. Unfortunately, Satan has found a number of ways to get us to do just that!”

What a perfect illustration to depict what happens when we leave these gifts unopened or unused. Not only are we missing out on some incredible benefits, but we’re also leaving ourselves vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. He delights in our unopened gifts. What gifts do you possess that have been unopened or unused? Think about that for just a minute. When’s the last time you truly pursued peace? What about the last time you exercised your spiritual gift? (If you don’t know what your spiritual gift is, click on this link to take the survey and find out.) When’s the last time you went to the Lord in fervent prayer to seek His will for your life? When’s the last time you leaned on The Holy Spirit for guidance?

Please know I’m with you! That’s why I chose stewardship for my word this year. I need to do better! I am realizing more and more that God has blessed me abundantly with all of these gifts that come with salvation and I’m not tapping into them. I am often reminded of the verse from Luke 12:48 that says,

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Haven’t we all been given “much”? What are we doing with it?

The Challenge

Sometimes, when I think about things like this, I get overwhelmed. I think I have to do all the things all the time and I end up doing none of the things well. Do you know what I mean? Let’s challenge ourselves to pick one of these gifts (peace, prayer, The Holy Spirit, The Bible, faith, patience… the list goes on). Let’s pick one and chase after it, stay focused on it, and look for every opportunity to use it. Let’s make the most of the 24 hours/ 1,440 minutes/ 86,400 seconds each day. Let’s make the most of the dash between our birth and the time we’re called home. Let’s not leave our presents unopened. They are far too valuable to be left unused. And I’m not here to judge, but if you need help taking down your Christmas tree, give me a call. 😉