1 Corinthians 1
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
This is the week to focus on getting Christmas gifts sent out. There’s a humorous ad running on TV this year about the things you can count on at Christmas, one of which is getting package delivery notifications via email and the other is Aunt Somebody going off-list and giving you something you won’t use at all. Choosing the right gift to give is definitely an art.
Thankfully God never goes off-list and he’s an artful gift giver. This Scripture is clear we’ve been “enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge.” Spiritual gifts are a popular topic but this gift, words and thought, doesn’t appear in any of the lists I’ve read. I wonder why? Think of it…a gift that makes you smart enough to never again have to wish you could eat the words you’d just spoken. The extra bonus would be Grace that would impact all your words and the dreaded “tone of voice” that sometimes belies them. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. You know that saying “it’s more blessed to give….?
That’s given me an idea. I’m going to find a special digital gift box this Advent. Then I’m going to fill that box with 26 days, or so, of personal Thank You Notes for being able to use that gift of words and thought. It’s may not be perfect, yet, but it’s the best gift I have to offer this year: daily delivery notifications and no worries about going off-list.
Shirle Bedient