Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  James 1:17 ESV

You know that at some point, you have ripped open that beautiful Christmas wrapping paper and box only to find that the gift inside is something that you don’t like or that you have absolutely no use for.  If you are like my mom, you very politely ask the giver if they mind if you return it.  The joke in our family used to be that it didn’t matter what we got mom for a gift she was going to return it.  I remember being 13 and picking out a Mother’s Day gift for mom.  It was a purse.  She opened it and said it was beautiful and asked me a couple days later if my feelings would be hurt if she returned it.  I told her that I wouldn’t mind.  She returned the purse and a couple months later went and bought another one just like it,  no kidding!!  I used to tell her that I was just gonna get her a candy bar for every occasion.

Some people are great at buying gifts.  My husband is really good at listening to me. He really listens and pays attention to see what I need or want.  I am not so good at buying gifts.  I never feel like I am making the right choice and usually wind up frustrated. My new year’s resolution is to do things as I did years ago.  Years ago I had all my Christmas shopping done by August.  It made for a much more stress free holiday season. I would just shop through the year and catch the sales.  I had plenty of time to consider what everyone wanted and was able to get them nice gifts with no last minute rushing around.  It was great, so I hope that I can do that this year.

Christmas night I had the privilege of taking my six year old, great niece, Abby,  to my in-laws for their family celebration.  Even though this is my sister’s grandchild, my in-laws have adopted her into their family.  Abby had gone to Christmas with my brother-in-law’s family Christmas Eve, she had gone to my sister’s house Christmas day, and was heading to her third celebration.  On the 20 minute ride she filled me in on all the gifts she had received.  There is something you need to know about Abby.  No matter what you give her as a gift, she will open it and become very excited and say, “Oh, I love it.  It’s just what I wanted”,  or “I’ve always wanted one of these.”  After we had finished eating dinner and opening gifts at my in-laws, Abby and I had loaded the car with the gifts and were heading home.  I asked her if she was happy with the gifts she had received this Christmas.  From her car seat in back, she said, “It doesn’t matter what you get for Christmas, it’s just that somebody was nice enough to get you something.”  Wow! This from a six year old!  If only we all had that  attitude right?

But what about the gifts God gives us?  What do we do with those gifts?  Do we say that we love them and  put them back in the box and toss them in the closet? Do we pull them out and begin using them right away? 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”  So are you using your gift from God to serve others?

Now some of you are sitting here like calves staring at a new gate.  You are wondering what on earth I am talking about and thinking that you are unaware of a gift from God. Well, you have gifts from God my friend.  Perhaps you have not bothered to open them up and see what they are, but you have them.  There is a website called giftstest.com.  You can go on this website and take a test that takes less than five minutes.  You simply answer a few questions and they will email you and tell you what your gifts are. As a matter of fact, they will give you your top five gifts.  Once you are armed with this information, you can get busy serving others like the Bible verse says.

Many of us sit around and mope and complain about how bad things are.  Well, I tell you this often, but I’m gonna say it again.  Romans 8:28 says “all things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”  This means that even if you are facing hard times, God is working it out for your good, if you love Him and are called according to His purpose. That whole “called according to His purpose” thing means that you are using the gifts God gave you to serve Him.

Now my mom would always say that she loved the gift and would then return it.  My dad would not say much at all when he received a gift other than “Thanks”.  We knew if he liked it or not by whether he left it sitting in the box and stuck it in his closet or whether he  immediately opened the box and used it.  Many years ago, I got my Dad a Bible for Christmas.  I had his name engraved on it.  My dad was not saved at the time.  He put the Bible in a box and  put it aside, but I noticed a couple months later that he had removed it from the box and it was on the table by his favorite chair.  He had started reading that Bible. A couple years later, my dad got saved.  He was saved five years before he passed  away.  I am so grateful that God called him to salvation.  When God called daddy home I knew that he had gone to heaven.  What a relief that was.

The greatest gift that God gives us is the gift of salvation.  I hope that you have opened that gift and are taking full advantage of it today.  If so, I hope that you are using your other gifts that God has given you to serve others.  Perhaps you have a beautiful voice and are singing in church or singing to the lost to try to save them.  Perhaps you have the gift of teaching and are teaching a Sunday School class.  Perhaps you have the gift of encouragement and are encouraging others through hard times and helping them find their way to Jesus Christ. Whatever your gift is, I hope that you are using it.

If you are not saved and want to experience the gift of salvation, begin by establishing a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Find someone that is saved and let them help you and mentor you.  Go to a good Bible teaching church and speak with the pastor.

If you are saved, then look around you.  Use your gifts to lead others to Christ.  God didn’t save you so you could sit around and look pretty, he saved you so you could lead others to Him.  Using our gifts to serve others not only helps others but it makes us feel complete.  After all, it’s our purpose in this life.  It’s why God put us here.

So if you don’t know what your gift is, find out.  Take the test.  Once you know, start using that gift.  You will be glad you did.

Have a great day!