God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Eph 2:8
My Mum is a grand gift-giver. I would often come home from school, throw my bag on the floor, open the door to my bedroom, and find a thoughtful something waiting for me on my bed from her. We went through seasons where buying gifts for people was a complete joy for my Mum – living in seasons of a certain level of abundance where gift-giving was affordable and fun. But we went through hard seasons financially, and even in those seasons, the gifts would appear on my bed; Mum often sacrificing and going without to bless us. I think during these hard times the joy of giving a gift was felt on a deeper level. Even now that I’m ‘all grown up’, she finds ways to give to us, and especially to my children. She gives out of a heart of pure love… and love, at its heart, is generous and delights in blessing.
God is the grandest gift-giver of them all. Sometimes, we get this idea of God wanting us to work for our salvation, of Him seeing if He can ‘trust us’ before giving us His blessing. Ephesians 2:8 says that grace and salvation is a GIFT – something we have not earned or won – given by grace, extended with love. No strings attached, no agenda’s, no conditions. God’s grace and salvation come from Him, therefore they do not depend upon us to be given. And the gift is never withdrawn. Through every season of our lives, every decision we make – good OR bad, the gift of grace and salvation is placed before us moment by moment, day be day, itching to be received, opened and taken on by the recipient – you.
Through your daily activities – things you have to do, the deadlines, the house cleaning, exam preparing, caring for children, working, exercising, dreaming, cooking, eating, driving… ALL OF IT – Don’t lose sight of this gift which is given whether you are doing a ‘good job’ or not on any of things mentioned above or more. Take this gift today, receive it, open it, walk in it and be thankful for it – it's yours simply because you are loved by the most generous gift-giver of all.
And mum, you're amazing – thank you xxoo