You never know your gift!

On clearing up after Christmas I had two ‘Thoughts for the Week’ I want to share.
 
The first thought is this: quite often when you see people’s Christmas decorations, the Christmas tree is in the corner of the room. I suppose it’s there so it doesn’t get knocked over and may well be where there is a power socket for the lights. So that is where presents are placed, looking so exciting and inviting with coloured wrapping paper and ribbon. Some may be odd shaped, some small, some large, some even soft and squidgy to the touch.
 
I wonder, when the festivities are finished and the clearing up takes place and the tree is disposed of or put in a box for next year, you find a small gift that got left, hidden behind the tree. Maybe at the time it couldn’t be seen or it was small enough not to be noticed and now it sits there unopened and unused. What could this gift be? It has your name on it.
 
All this made me think about the giftings we have all been given, some great, some small, but nevertheless they are gifts that our God has given to each one of us.
 
Now, what we don’t want to do is to not use the gift – like the present left under the tree, your gift needs to be opened and used. Yes, it may appear not to be big or fancy and it may even appear small to you, but what valuable gifts each one of us has been given. Maybe you could ask a friend what gifts they see in you and how you can use your talents.
 
In the New Testament, in 1 Peter 4:10-11 it says, “Each one should use any gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks he should do it as one speaking the very Words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
 
My second thought about clearing up after Christmas will follow in a couple of weeks.