The Gift That Keeps on Giving
I would love to tell you a great testimony about a gift I purchased and gave to others that just kept on giving. But truth is, the greatest testimony I could tell is about the gift that Jesus gave. That gift never runs out, and we should have a heart of gratitude for what was given to us.
There is a scripture in John where Jesus prays over the disciples and ultimately us as believers. In one portion of His prayer, He says, “…Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:17-19).
Jesus was praying to God the Father for the disciples because He was getting ready to go to the cross on all our behalf. And in His prayer, He says “sanctify them; set them apart, make then holy in the truth of your word”. Even though the disciples had been with Jesus for a time, they had not yet been made holy because holiness came only under the blood of Jesus.
Then He says to God, “…as you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them,” meaning all of us followers of Christ. And here is the good part - He says, “…for their sake I consecrate myself” meaning He has sanctified Himself to be the offering for us so that we may be holy in the truth.
Jesus had to become our offering for us to be set apart and made holy. He had to be the payment for us to receive the gift of holiness in truth. We are holy, there is nothing we can do to make ourselves unholy. He made us holy.
Every year we celebrate Thanksgiving. Around that time last year, I looked up both words:
Thanks: kindly or grateful thoughts; an expression of gratitude
Giving: to make a present of; to put into the possession of another for his or her use
Our heart posture should always be one of gratitude (being thankful ready to show appreciation) because of what Jesus did for us. And giving should be an offering of ourselves. How do we become an offering to God? Because He made us holy and set us apart for His work in the world. We give ourselves to the work as unto Him. Remember in Jesus’s prayer He says, “I have sent them into the world to give the world the truth his word.”
So in this season, we want to make sure we are doing the work of the Father in this world. With the heart of gratitude, let us offer His love, which He consistently gives to us to pour out to those around us.
Father, I thank you for the season I am in. I thank you for a heart posture of thanksgiving. As you gave yourself for me, I give myself to you, for the work of your ministry in the world. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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