October 13, 2021 – Click here to listen
Yesterday some friends sent us a welcome home gift. We were gone nearly three months and had sent these friends a photo of us standing by a plane that had just landed on a glacier near Denali Alaska.
They had the photo blown up and put on a frame and sent it to us out of the blue; we will treasure it.
I was thinking of this thoughtful gesture this morning and I was envious of the mindset it took to think of putting this nice gift together and sending it to someone just to welcome them home after a long journey. I cannot envision even thinking like that.
My mother was a very thoughtful person and often surprised those who knew her with such a deep kindheartedness of thinking of others. She would bake a cake and take it to some of the least likely people one can imagine. She never missed a birthday, anniversary, or the like. I guess I got shorted on that gene because I can barely remember my own birthday, anniversary, and Valentine’s Day is just another day. I tell myself I’m not detail-oriented enough to set up a system on my computer to remind me of such things.
I was thinking I don’t have to be envious of those thoughtful people and I probably have enough intellect to set up a system to notify me of important dates (if I really made up my mind to do so).
Or can I? Or should I?
I have no doubt I could do much better but coming up with an idea like our friends did with the photo, well I believe that is a gift from God. A gift that I did not receive.
I was talking to a friend here in the keys about going fishing who has his own gift. He longs to go fishing and seems to love it, but he has limited time as he owns his own business and works hard hours, plus he is very close to his grown kids and seems to be tied up with seeing them quite often even though they all live great distances from his home in the keys. But there are times when he has some free time; however, even then he uses most of it to “serve”. He tells me he loves to serve and if anyone in church or his neighborhood needs a helping hand he and his wife are there with a smile on their faces ready to pitch in.
I believe that too is a gift from God. It is humbling to me to see friends like these going about their everyday lives doing what God has purposed them to do. As mentioned, I sincerely wish I could be more like these friends, but then as I think about it, I realize that I too have been given gifts by God and though they are not the same as some of my friends and acquaintances I’m using them as well. Mine are different but I believe they too are important to God. And in fairness perhaps my friends might struggle trying to do the same things I do for the Lord because they received other gifts. Does that make sense to you? It does to me.
There is no doubt in my mind that it is God’s divine plan that we are different from everyone else on the planet. He did this for a purpose and so that all things would work together for the glory of God. We read descriptions of love in the Bible. I believe these are descriptions of God Himself. Realistically, though I aspire to reach those lofty heights, I don’t think I can ever reach that high this side of heaven.
But the important thing is to try to emulate Jesus in every way and maximize our use of our personal gifts with which He has endowed us to exude His love to the world. The Bible is clear that we ALL have been afforded gifts. It is up to use them. If we all did the world would be a wonderful place . . .
1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.