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| Pastor E. Olu Olorunpomi |
Giving is a powerful expression of love among humans. This Christmas season is particularly reputed for giving and receiving gifts. Infact the day after Christmas is tagged Boxing Day. A day to unwrap the gifts received.
Every genuine giver wants their gifts APPRECIATED and APPROPRIATED. They want the gifts valued and put to good use.
Please note that the facial value of a gift or even the size or amount is not what really matters. Rather, it is the mind behind the hand that matters more.
I watched a skit recently. It was supposed to be a comedy but loaded with salient lessons. A man kept a $1,000 bill in a loaf of bread and went to town in Nigeria to see who would be the lucky winner of the sum. The street value of that money is not a joke at all.
So he went to the street offering that loaf to a number of persons. One after the other, the potential beneficiaries rejected the gift and despised the giver for offering them an ordinary loaf of bread for Christmas. It was so sad seeing a couple of them fight the giver as he was trying to persuade them to take the valuable gift!
One after the other, they regretted their actions when they got to know the real content of the package. They would plead and even cry for it but it was too late! They failed the test. You may need to know that that TEST is an acronym for The End Shall Tell whereas regret simply means understanding that comes so late.
On Christmas Day, we celebrate the most valuable gift of God to humanity. Of this we read in Isaiah 9:6-7, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
Here is God the Ultimate Giver offering Himself inside a human body called Jesus of Nazareth. In the package is salvation, redemption and everything that pertains to LIFE and LIVING.
What did man do to the gift?
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
WHY WOULD A MAN REJECT A VALUABLE GIFT?
1. Poverty: inadequate or lack of knowledge. Lack of understanding of purpose. People who think they are comfortable with their income see no need for Jesus because they think they have what people who go to church are looking for! What a shame! Ignorance is a killer! What you don't know can kill you.
2. Packaging: who would ever know there was a $1,000 bill in an ordinary loaf of bread? Imagine the KING of kings coming like an ordinary man! Born in a manger? By poor parents? He did not look like it.
Isaiah 53:3: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
3. Presentation: unfortunately, a great message may suffer rejection because of the messengers. The acceptance of the Gospel suffers because of the real and perceived imperfections of the messengers. Many are limited by lack of formal education, poor family backgrounds, even their own idiosyncrasies. They may have no sugarcoated tongues like spokespersons of political parties and motivational speakers.
Whatever the case, nothing can change the intrinsic value of the gift of God to man.
WHAT SHOULD BE THE PROPER RESPONSE?
1. Believe. It is the Wonderful Story of Love.
2. Receive: the gift makes sense only when it is received and used.
3. Increase: it is too much for your consumption alone. Whatever you cannot exhaust, you extend. Extend this valuable gift to all others around you. Empower them with the Gospel.
And that is the real essence of Christmas!
Merry Christmas, beloved.
We love you with the love of God.
Pastor E. Olu Olorunpomi,CAC Eternal Praise Assembly, Alakuko, Lagos