NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

June 13 - Gifts with no strings

Scripture focus: John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word." We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, this endless knowing and understanding- all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day. John 1:15-18 (The Message)

Here's another false belief that kept me up at night. I thought that God reacted to Adam and Eve's "incident" in the garden by first trying to provide us with principles to live by (the ten commandments) and when that didn't work out as he intended, he was forced to send Jesus to our rescue. I imagined how disappointed God must be with all his children, wayward creatures that we are, totally unappreciative of God's long suffering patience with us.

It never occurred to me that God isn't as freaked out by my sin and shame as I am. He's not pacing in the heavenlies wringing his hands over the mess his babies are making down on earth. In point of fact, God has always been and will forever continue to be ahead of us.
He's not reacting in frustration to our human ways but is instead offering a perpetual attitude of generosity and blessing to us – gift after gift after gift. God is exuberantly giving to us, and it is fully expected and even desired that we will exuberantly receive all that God desires to give us.

I can't imagine giving gifts to my children based on their performance or pleasing me. My husband and I give to our children because we love them; when they accept these gifts it is because they are choosing to receive our love. I suppose if we had used "things" to try to manipulate our children, maybe the giving and receiving would get complicated. Some people worry about spoiling their children with gifts. But I've observed that the only kind of gift that seems to rot on the vine of generosity is the gift given as a substitute for loving relationship. When we are in a love and trust relationship, it forms the foundation for healthy gift giving and receiving. But if we're not in loving, trusting relationship, gifts are more like bribes and payments.

God isn't trying to win our loyalty and affection, he's simply giving us his love. God's generous bounty won't be yanked away from us at the first sign of trouble, so there's no need to try to please God in order to keep the pipeline open. Our trust of God pleases him. If you're trying to earn God's pleasure, I bet you feel pretty tired. I pray that you will find a way to believe God when he tells us that the thing that pleases God is when we trust him.

Recommended reading: Psalm 59-61

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