"The One Gift"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"The One Gift"

    What do we give to the One who has everything?

   "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).

   "I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of Heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:22).

    "Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is Mine" (Job 41:11).

   

    Obviously, we can bestow no tangible thing upon the Lord to whom all things belong.  Nor can we give Him our hearts, as a Christmas carol suggests.  They already belong to Him - "Behold, all souls are Mine" (Ezekiel 18:4).  Of course, we may suppose that believers figuratively "give our hearts to the Lord", as some preachers and teachers suggest.  I wouldn't quibble over this point, except to suggest that in literal terms, we cannot logically give anything, including our hearts, to the One who has already owns all.

    Except… 

    "O Lord, my God, I will give thanks unto Thee forever!" (Psalm 30:12).

    Along with praise, the bestowal of affirmations of gratitude and adoration to the Lord bring something to Him that He does not possess until we make our offering.  His Spirit works within our hearts and minds to motivate such expression, but we must respond to His moving in order to actually give the gift.  This means that our relationship and fellowship with Him comprises a real bond of Personality to personality, as opposed to our merely existing as programmed machines.  When we thank and praise our Heavenly Father in faith, humility, and sincerity, we lay something upon the threshold of His heart that He would not otherwise have.  We give offerings of uniquely expressed love as manifested through our spirits, minds, emotional nature, histories, and experience of the Lord Jesus.

   Can you imagine what this must mean to Him?  I suspect we can't.  Perhaps we do, however, catch a glimpse of what Solomon meant when he declared, "The prayer of the upright is His delight" (Proverbs 16:9).  The gift of loving appreciation, expressed in the twofold affirmation of thanksgiving and praise, doubtless blesses the heart of God beyond all comprehension.  You and I possess in this moment the opportunity to bring joy to the Heart that has brought so much joy to us (at so much cost to Himself).  Allow me then to get out of your way, and to myself find that place in my heart from which I may join you in giving a most sublime gift, the one gift, to the One who has everything.  Or perhaps, not everything…

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, o Most High!"

(Psalm 92:1)

Weekly Memory Verse

    This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

(Titus 3:8)