gifts

Gifts are given out of free will, and some measure of sacrifice (monetary, time, thought) is put into it. As we were going through missions training today, we spoke about how eternal life is a free gift from God. God sacrificed the glory of living in eternity to become a man, and then lived his entire life without looking back - as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And when we believe that we ourselves can get into heaven through things we do, we spit in the face of the giver by attempting to pay for the gift. The freely given gift.

Something's happened like this in my own life. As popular as I was (except not really), there was this girl in elementary who chased me around trying to give me a jar of origami stars she made. I refused it (because I can't handle cooties, especially in the shape of origami stars), and then when she forced it upon me, I took it and threw it away. Yes, I am a terrible person; I have no heart.

So how does God feel when he lovingly gift-wraps his Son as a sacrifice for us, only to have us take it and attempt to pay for it and earn it, or even worse, to dump it in the trash?

P.S. I don't think it should stop with us just receiving though. We receive gifts thankfully, we respond not by paying for the gift, but giving gifts back in our own love.