What do you buy for Dad?

A recurrent Christmas puzzler for kids is how to get a gift for Dad. Dad generally has far more resources and supplies what he needs for himself. So, should buy him another shirt, a gadget for his car just to get him a gift?  Eventually we figure out that what Dad wants is our love and that cannot be bought at the shopping mall.  Those handmade cards made by 5 year-old girls who labor for hours to get it ‘just right’ are priceless. A few years ago, Sean presented me with a beautiful book of memories he had made. It ranks high on the list of memorable gifts in my life! I hate to admit it, but I know that there are dysfunctional Dads who teach their children conditional love by demanding ‘bribes’ in return for favor. The only word for that is tragic.

When you bring a gift to your heavenly Father is it offered from a heart filled with love or with the hope of gaining His favor? 
Do you think He wants you to bribe Him, or do you believe He cares for you and receives your gifts with delight?

Take a look at this Scripture.
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”  

“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:33-36, NIV)

Does that make you catch your breath, give you a solid foundation to trust Him for all things of your life? Mark Galli rightly observes that when we make God too small or misunderstand the depth of His love, we turn religion into something we do for God. But, when we accept the God revealed by the Bible we turn that upside down. “You start making religion about what God has done and is doing. You then wait around for Him to do something.” (Chaos and Grace, Baker, 2011)  If we allow ourselves to think that we can make things happen, that we can prove our worth to the Lord, that we can provoke His blessings; in a very short time we will lose the joy of faith and fall under the slavery of rule-keeping. We abandon the Gospel of Grace in Christ and return to the legalism of the Law.

Loving God is actually more difficult than working at ‘god’ stuff! Religion is something we can do on our own. A love relationship requires pursuit of the Holy One and is two-sided. He may make us wait, without explaining Himself, other than the reminder that His wisdom is beyond our comprehension.  Let’s not make the mistake of thinking we can buy His love. Let’s not allow ourselves to enter the delusion that we have done something for Him that will make Him reciprocate. Instead, let’s love extravagantly. That is what He desires from us.

Here’s a word from the Word. May it wrap you in grace, lift the load of religion, and release the joy of the Spirit. "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession." (James 1:17-18, NLT)