Good Gifts 2
This morning I was thinking about what I shared with you yesterday and realized that I left out some things I wanted to say. Let’s talk more about giving good gifts. Yesterday I talked mainly about things that cost money. Parents give their children things that cost money every day, things like food and electricity. They give them other things on a regular basis, clothing for example. Parents occasionally pay for entertainment, like trips to a zoo or an aquarium. On special occasions, they give their children presents. Thoughtful parents know it is important to provide things that cost money, but they also know that their children need many gifts that cost no money at all.
Once when a man offered to give King David some things to use as sacrifices to God. David replied:“No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).
No valuable gift can be given without cost to the giver. The best gifts cost us what is more valuable than money. They cost us time. They require us to consider others as more important than ourselves. These gifts come from a heart that loves another so much that we treat that other person the same way we want to be treated. We give these gifts after we have lain down our wants and carefully considered the needs and desires of others.
So, how do we live this out? We play with sidewalk chalk now and wash the dishes later. We lay down our grading pencil when our husband says, “Come sit next to me on the couch.” We say yes when our dad asks us to do something important to him. We cancel our plans and change direction on the spur of the moment because our friend or relative is passing through town in thirty minutes, and if we don’t do it right now, the opportunity will be gone.
This kind of gift-giving requires flexibility, self-sacrifice, love. Isn’t this what we see in Jesus? He was on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter and He stopped to heal the woman with the issue of blood. He was taking a nap and He got up and calmed the storm. After John the Baptist died, Jesus went away to a secluded place by Himself. People heard about it and followed Him. When He saw a large crowd, he “felt compassion for them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). That evening He fed 5,000 people.
Years ago I heard about a new Christian who was discouraged after reading the letters of Paul. He wondered how he could possibly obey what he read. Then he read the Gospels and learned about the life of Jesus. After that he was excited; he said that the power to do what we learn in the letters is found in the Gospels. With this in mind, let’s look again at the passage at the end of yesterday’s encouragement. Yesterday I shared Philippians 2:4. If we look at the three verses before it and the verse that follows it, we can find the power to give the best good gifts.
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ,
if there is any consolation of love,
if there is any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any affection and compassion,
make my joy complete by being of the same mind,
maintaining the same love,
united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:1-5, NASB