Title: Gifts/ Ephesians 2:8
Contents
Gift
Ephesians 2:8
"For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
A gift is a sign of gratitude and love, which makes the other person happy. I once received a memorable gift. It was when I was in the 5th grade of elementary school, near Christmas, and my mother gave me an item wrapped in nice wrapping paper. The original wrapping paper made the gift recipient curious and anticipating, so when I opened the gift out of curiosity, "what is this?" while gently touching and shaking the gift, there were skates in it.
At that time, skating was only available to wealthy people, and I was so happy that I went out and skated all night. Also, after burning late at night, I wiped it with oil and kept it, but I lost it while moving. I always remember how sad it was to lose those skates back then.
1. Gift of Love
This is the story of O Henry's 'Christmas Gift'. A couple named Della and Jim lived in America. Although they loved each other, they were too poor. The only thing they had in particular was fine hair for his wife, Della, and a gold watch from their father, Jim, for husband. On the eve of Christmas, his wife, Della, had to buy a present for her husband, Jim, but she had only a few pennies. So Della cut off his hair, sold it, and bought her husband a platinum watch band as a gift. Jim's loving wife, Della, was not worth cutting his fine hair to please her husband. When her husband, Jim, returned home, he was startled to see his wife, who had her hair cut, and stopped. Moments later, Jim held in his hands a Christmas present he had prepared for his wife. The gift was a jewelery ornament for his wife's fine hair, as well as a gift from the sale of his gold watch. Gifts that can't be used after all! The husband and wife happily gave their most precious gifts to each other as a gift for their beloved husband and for their beloved wife.
The Bible says, “House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife comes from the Lord” (Proverbs 19:14). A wife is a gift from God.
“But each of you must love his wife as himself, and let the wife fear her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).
2. A beautiful gift story
When the plight of 9-year-old Kang Gye-young, who was unable to walk due to congenital heart disease, but was unable to undergo surgery due to her poor family, was reported in the newspapers, a lot of money was donated by readers to help with heart surgery. At Sejong Hospital in Bucheon, Kye-Young Kang performed heart surgery free of charge to help her recover. At the house of Yang Kang, who recovered health by wearing this warm warmth of society, he could not forget his gratitude and returned the donation of 1,700,000 won sent to him to the newspaper company, saying, “Gye-young received free surgery, so this donation will give you more life. It should be used to save people. I think that is the only way our family can give thanks." With the donation of more than 10 million won, four children with other heart diseases underwent surgery. When reporting on this fact, the newspaper called it a "Christmas gift from Boeun." What a beautiful gift story. A gift that is not a bribe is truly beautiful.
The Bible also interprets the relationship between God and man as a gift. Salvation is a gift from God (1 Peter 1:5), grace is a gift from God (Romans 5:15), talent is a gift from God (Ephesians 4:7, Matthew 25:15), and the Holy Spirit is a gift from God. (Acts 2:38) Also, it is said that it is a gift from God that everyone eats and drinks and enjoys pleasure through hard work (Ecclesiastes 3:13). will do The world becomes dark when there are many people who ask for it, but when there are many people who want to give it, it becomes brighter.
3. The best gift
What is the best gift we can give to others?
Balfour (1848-1930), an English political songwriter, said:
“Do to your enemies forgiveness, tolerant to your adversaries, your own heart to your friends, an example to your son, filial piety to your father, to your mother do what a mother will boast of you. , to give kindness to all is the best gift."
4. Noble Gifts - Children
Among the many gifts God has given, I would like to say that the noblest gift is the giving of children. Long ago, in southern China, there was a devout Christian with the surname of Song (宋). He devoted himself to the church and prayed fervently in the midst of poverty. He sometimes skipped meals, but never skipped prayer. In particular, he raised his four children in hope, seeing them as “a great gift from God.” As a result, his son Zun Zun became the finance minister of China, his eldest daughter Jing Ling became the wife of “the great man of China” Sun Mun, the second daughter Aeryeong became the wife of Nanjing government chief Sang Gwang-hui, and the third daughter Mi-ryong became the wife of Chiang Kai-shek.
The Bible says, "Children are the gift of the LORD, and the offspring of the womb are his reward" (Psalm 127:3).
Parents see their children as an extension of their lives. Therefore, they are neither jealous nor jealous of their children's well-being. Rather, it is the parent's heart that when their children do well, they are more happy and proud than their own work. When a child serves God well and is praised by people for his righteous and good deeds, it becomes a father's crown. Also, if a child is wise and handles everything well, the parents who gave birth to the child are proud and not happy. In fact, you will feel the reward of having a child and you will have true joy. Therefore, we should strive to become children that God and our parents can be proud of.
“Rejoice your father and mother, and make your mother happy” (Proverbs 23:25)
5. Great Gift
We often forget the importance of life. They don't realize that life is so precious and a great gift. So, although I am grateful for a birthday present, I cannot thank life itself. They live their lives without realizing that life is a treasure given free of charge. Live as it flows. We spend our days clinging to things that are not very important. It would be foolish to receive a gift like a jewel and not know its value or to throw it away. It's even more pathetic if you repeat that stupid thing every day. The moment you realize how precious and precious the life you have been given today can change your life from today.
“I also knew that it is the gift of God that every man eat and drink and find pleasure in his toil” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
6. Teacher's Gift
A teacher wanted to give the children his most precious watch. First, he took out his watch and said to the tallest child. "If you want this, I'll give it to you." Then the child just smiled, thinking the teacher was joking. The teacher told the other children the same. The child just laughed because he thought that if he held out his hand, he would become a laughing stock to others.
The teacher said the same to the shortest child. Then the child quickly took the watch and put it in my pocket, nodding to say hello. "Thank you teacher." the teacher said "Thank you so much. You believed me. Now that the watch is yours, keep it safe. Don't forget to wind it up..." Then the two children regretted it. "Are you really giving it to me? If I had known that, I would have had it sooner..."
Giving a gift is not a matter of whether it is expensive or small, it is our expression of gratitude, love, and devotion. That is why a gift is something that delights not only the other person's heart but also mine. We are people who have received many gifts.
The God who loves us has given us the most important thing as a gift. We have been given the most precious gift in the world. It is exactly what we need. To prepare that gift, God had to pay a great price. If you know what a gift God has given you, you will want to have it. That gift is Jesus Christ. However, it is very sad to see that many people do not know about this gift of God, and even if they do, they are working hard to provide the price for this gift. Do you know what God's gift is? It is eternal life. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to give us eternal life.
7. Daddy's Gift
There is no greater gift than Jesus. There is no better gift than Jesus. Please arm yourself with the gospel that contains this Jesus. Your precious life and health, your children, your work and your business all these are God's free and generous gifts. How grateful we are when we realize this.
The Bible says, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23) and “this is the promise he made to us, everlasting life” (1 John 2:25). It also says, “He saved us, not because of our works of righteousness, but according to his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the spirit…” (Titus 3:5-7).
We do not have to do anything to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life. All you have to do is receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:39) and the gift of salvation from God. I pray that all of you will receive the gift of grace from God with thanksgiving.