The GIFT Giver
This Season, Experience the ULTIMATE Giver of Gifts
Ephesians 2:8, ‘For by grace you have been saved! Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ!’ (TPT)
December 30th, 2022
the GIFT: Eternity
Ecclesiastes 3:11, ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’ (NIV)
The Giver slowly wandered to the edge of His timeless tree, its leafy branches which reached bravely upward like sentinels. Far below, swatches of shade created a patchwork quilt where four-legged animals crept and insects crawled and flowers flourished. The Garden was still the most peaceful place in all of Paradise, and the Giver chuckled to Himself with a hint of nostalgia. It likely was so serene because humanity had long before been removed and were no longer free to dwell here.
As far as His eye could reach, to the distant edges of the world and all its parts He so loved, He could see the beating heart and the human soul. It soon would be time to come full circle, to bring His beings to Him, gather them to His bosom, where they could fellowship forevermore. It was what He had dreamt of in the beginning, all His creation, sitting at Their feet in adoration and proclamation. ‘Hanging out’, humans liked to call it. It had taken lifetimes to get here, and it had not turned out the way the Giver once had planned, but a time was coming soon when there would be no peering backward, only longing and looking forward for all eternity. Very soon, the hearts of all mankind would be transformed, transfixed, and the victory would be heard as far as an echo could reach.
How did He know? The more intently He stared into the face of His worshippers, the more He saw the image of Himself and His Son and His Spirit in their reflections. Like the glassy beauty of a serene lake at daybreak with the mountains rising from its depths so was the love and grace drafting from the human heart, mirrored for all to see. It was nearly time now, time to step into everlasting life, into eternity, as children of the Giver gave as He did, when they began to look more like Him than they looked like themselves or one another, when they responded more as He would than as they always had—He’d always said, “That’s when I will know.” And that time was almost here.
The Giver tossed a long look over His shoulder. He saw all that was behind, the journeys and battles and distances they’d all come. His eyes roved everywhere; eight billion reasons why came into perfect view and He knew precisely why He had chosen the path They had taken. He knew where they had all come from and where they were now and where they were going. And He, the ultimate Gift Giver, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, almost could not wait to get there. He rubbed the palms of His hands together, like a child anticipating Christmas morning, a large smile eating His face and filling Him with hope and joy. He headed in search of His Son so they could begin the final countdown. Eternity lay just around the bend.
THE END
or is it
THE BEGINNING
