unwrapping the gift

Psalm 118:¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness;

         I will go through them, 
         And I will praise the LORD.

Job 35: Look to the heavens and see;

      And behold the clouds— 
      They are higher than you.

Psalm 34:⁴ I sought the LORD, and He heard me,

         And delivered me from all my fears.
 ⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant,
         And their faces were not ashamed.

I was thinking about the packages we unwrap on Christmas morning.  There is generally a mix of anticipation and eagerness as the paper is pulled off the box to reveal the gift.  I remember, as a boy, the surge of excitement as I recognized a particular toy that I'd set my heart on.  For a moment there was the clear sensation of what a dream come true feels like.  And I remember the day that Jesus unwrapped my heart and found me.  I don't know if I was a dream come true to Him, but I finally felt like a gift that had come to the right home.  There was always the sense that I'd been made for a purpose...something bigger than just "self"...because, frankly, self didn't know what life was all about.   Self tended to be confused and wondering and wandering.  But when the Lord took the paper off and lifted me out of the box I finally knew what I'd been made for...for Him and forever.  So this morning I looked for a few verses that consider how we can also unwrap the package of life that God has fashioned for us.  We can open the gates of righteousness.  We can look to the heavens and be humbled by the azure canvas God has made from the black void of space.  And, best of all, we can find His presence whenever we need Him and His light becomes our light.  I think we were made to be a gift to God.  But His gift to us is life, itself...now and forever.

blessings to the other packages under God's tree,

Rob Smith