Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Free Gift” for Saturday, 6 December 2014 - Scripture: Ephesians 2: He Tore Down the Wall
1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.[Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)]
I carefully reviewed my Christmas gift-and-card list, hoping that I hadn’t missed anyone. I know how awkward I feel when someone gives me a gift and I don’t have anything to give in return. I admit that I usually dash off a last-minute card when I receive one in the mail from someone who isn’t on my list.
Even when someone does me a favor I find myself saying, “I owe you one.” To be on the receiving end of a generous gesture without reciprocating is not in my nature.
Maybe that’s why I need to remind myself, especially during the Christmas season, that God’s most precious gift, Jesus Christ, was given out of the depth of God’s love for us, not because we’ve earned it and certainly not because we deserve it. God loves us so much that God wants to be reconciled with us through the gift of Jesus Christ. God’s unique gift is ours to accept with an open and grateful heart.
Read more from the author, here.
"Tis the Season"
Tis the season for making lists. And I’m a good old-fashioned pencil-on-paper list maker. Gingerbread cookies to bake…Christmas cards to send…traditional decorations to display – no matter the task, I truly enjoy creating a column of handwritten chores to check off as I complete them. Like a 10-letter vertical phrase in a crossword puzzle, I relish seeing in print my ongoing tally of what needs to be done.
This year I’m adding a new list to the mix, too. Not a to-do list, but a thank you list. I’m realizing more and more that all good things come from above; God truly is our provider. So, I’ve decided to make note of my abundant blessings to show my gratitude to God for such things as: 1) having my meditation published in The Upper Room; 2) taking Argentine Tango dance lessons; 3) being able to help my elderly mother; 4) receiving the free gift of His amazing grace.
Next on my to-do list is to wish all of The Upper Room readers a most joyous Christmas season. May you continuously find the sacred in the ordinary and may your cup overflow with an abundance of gratitude this coming year.[Kay Campbell]
The Author: Kay L. Campbell (Connecticut, USA)
Thought for the Day: God’s love is the greatest gift of all.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to humbly receive the gift of your son, Jesus, and to keep gratitude in our hearts all year long. Amen.
Prayer focus: Those who haven’t accepted the gift of God’s Son
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