Rejected Gift

Have you ever had someone refuse your gift?

It hurts, huh? It's the sort of insult that undoubtedly ranks in the top five.

I recently had someone reject a gift I had given them.

"I don't want your present; I am returning it to you later!"

"You can't return a present. I want you to have it."

"Nope, I will bring it by later."

OUCH!

Too cheap, too expensive, too ugly, too pretty, not useful, have too many, don't like it, don't like you...the reason doesn't matter. The rejection of the gift brings emotional pain. And, in this case, to intensify the sting of the jab was the fact that the present was perfect, carefully selected for the need and desires of that person.

As I allowed myself to reflect on the experience and the pain of the situation, God drew a parallel in my mind. And so goes the revelation...

This is exactly what we do when we say, "No," to God's grace. God gave us the ultimate gift, the life of His first born, only, perfect son. A gift carefully selected for the needs and desires of His people.

And not only does God give us a gift; but, He also rids us of the junk so that the gift is better appreciated and displayed in our lives.

AMAZING!

Better yet, there is nothing we have to do to earn the gift and there is nothing we can do to have the gift taken from us. It's free. A pure gift without any attached strings. It's a gift of the most precious kind.

INDESCRIBABLE!

But look around. Not everyone has chosen to accept the gift. Many have rejected the gift.

And if that isn't bad enough, many of us (that have initially accepted the present) reject it in another way: abuse. We sit the gift on a shelf and allow it to be tarnished. We never allow it to take full presence in our lives and radiate. Or, there are some of us who store it away in hidden closets only to bring it out when we need it.

We cheapen the gift. We cheapen God's grace.

So I began to wonder, when we refuse His gift does God feel like I do when someone refuses my gift?

By our rejection of the gift, how badly are we hurting our father?

I would have to say that God's heart wails when we reject his gift! And the insult? Wow...we might as well spit on the foot of the cross!