2 Corinthians 6:1
…we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
When I think of bad receptions, I picture an old TV with snow on the screen, or a pro wide receiver dropping a sure touchdown pass. Rarely do I think about Christmas gifts and my guess is, neither do you. Maybe we should.
All over the world this week there will be a new pile of presents. Last week they were wrapped and carefully placed under beautifully lit trees. This week they’ll be tossed in the corner of a closet, played with once or twice and then just as quickly forgotten. It is the end result of our love affair with stuff, and it will happen to any of us who make bad receptions.
All of us have been guilty of being poor givers at times, but have we ever considered whether or not we’re bad receivers? When was the last time we truly received well? The last time we opened a gift with more thought about who was giving it than about what they were giving? The last time we were truly, whole-heartedly thankful? I must admit that our family fights this battle seemingly without end, and I think that is how it should be. It is our natural tendency to receive as if we were supposed to, as if we expected to, and as if we deserved to. Entitlement always leads to bad receptions, because at that point the thought isn’t what counts. What counts is, well, how much money was counted in the purchase.
And so we fight on, and the result of fighting against our natural tendency is watching our children truly enjoy the givers of the gifts they open. This is the key to guarding against bad receptions. It is about knowing the giver, and it is that relationship which makes us value all the more the gift they give.
I think that’s true spiritually, too. Paul urged his readers not to make a bad reception. He warned them that if they weren’t careful, the gift of God’s grace could end up in the back of a dark closet among other gifts that were played with once and then forgotten. He knew that if they valued the giver – it was God’s grace, after all – they would value the gift, too.
How about us? If ever there was a gift that needed to be received with great care and thankfulness, it is the gift of God’s grace given to all. I urge you now, as Paul did then, not to make a bad reception.
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