THE GIFT FOR ALL PEOPLE – Part 2

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16 NLT)

Why did God choose you? 

The answer is at once simple and profound.  He chose you because He wanted to.  After all, you are His.  He made you.  He brought you home.  He owns you.  And if you've never heard Him assuring you of that simple fact, be reminded by the words on this page.  Let these words resonate in your heart: the God who created you loves you.  He made the ultimate sacrifice because of you.  No, God doesn't need you.  He wants you.  So, what do we do with this gift?  What does it have to do with our daily existence?

It has everything to do with it.  Our task on earth is singular -- to choose our eternal home.  You can afford many wrong choices in life.  You can choose the wrong career and survive, the wrong city and survive, the wrong house and survive.  You can even choose the wrong mate and survive.  But there is one choice that must be made correctly and that is your eternal destiny. 

-- Max Lucado in “The Gift for All People”

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UTILIZING THE GIFT

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”  (Ephesians 2:8 NRSV)

A young couple decided that the wedding gift they received from the groom’s great- grandmother should become a priceless heirloom, so they kept it folded in its original package and stored it in a drawer. On the 25^th anniversary of their marriage, the bride decided to set a beautiful table for dinner using that heirloom, a special lace tablecloth. To her dismay, it fell apart as she took it out of the package. During the years of neglect it had rotted, been partly eaten by moths, and become useless and ruined.

In a similar manner, unless we exercise our gift of faith and are constant in worship and constant in contact with God’s Word, our faith will become dull, static, and stale.

-- adapted from Howard Kramin in “Hebrews: The Fulfillment of Faith”


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