Some of you may have seen my Facebook post earlier about Andrew making breakfast in bed for his sister and daddy. That event spoke to me in a way I never imagined maybe because it didn't turn out the way we expected.
Last night Andrew came to me in secret and asked if he could make breakfast in bed for his daddy and sister the next morning. Of course I said yes. So this morning at 6:15, here comes a beaming Andrew heading straight to the kitchen cabinets. He had it all planned out. Daddy would get 2 strawberry poptarts - not toasted. Andrew wanted to make coffee for Daddy but didn't know how so I helped out a bit with that one. He put the poptarts on a paper plate and took them up to Mark. Then Andrew comes down to make Savannah's. Imagine his delight when he discovered one more s'more poptart - he thought they were all gone. That's the one for Savannah! He put that one on a plate as well but said, "I'm going to wait until 6:45 so she can sleep a bit more." I go off to power walk and get back at 7:10. At 7:15 I say to Andrew, "Andrew, it's 7:15." Oh he quickly put down his DS and went to take the poptart up to his sister. All too quickly he comes back down with a look of anger on his face and tosses the plate on the dining room table. He says, "She says she'll have it later down here." His gift, his precious gift of brotherly love, time and thought had been rejected.
The mom in me wanted to go up and tell her a thing or two. How could she have rejected that? Doesn't she know that in a few short years he may not give her a second thought (you know those teenage years are quickly approaching). Would have hurt just to take one bite? (Cuz I know my kids well enough that she wouldn't have stopped at one bite and would have enjoyed the whole thing.) However, what's worse than a rejected a gift? A rejected gift that is then force to be accepted. So I told Andrew that it was the thought that counted and that he impressed me by his actions.
I take the dog outside and ponder what had just happened. All too clearly, one of the principles from the Bible lesson on John18-19 I taught two weeks ago hit home "No more light is given to those who refuse to receive God’s truth." One of the possible illustrations that was shared at the leaders meeting was about a rejection of a gift or if you were lost in the dark and someone offered you a candle and you refused, what would be the point in offering you more light or another gift. You see Jesus voluntarily gave his life as a gift of eternal life to us. We had been studying all year how God had this planned laid out hundreds and hundreds of years before. It was His gift of love to us. All we have to do is accept it, take one bite. At this point of our study we see Jesus standing in front of Pilate offering him the gift of eternal life not just once but more than once. All Pilate had to do was accept. Pilate asks one more question. This time Jesus doesn't respond. (John 18:38). The gift had already been rejected. It was not going to be offered again.
"Okay God, that's an awesome point for those who haven't accepted your gift but I'm already a believer. How does this apply to me?" I ask. God answered. Everyday He offers believers gifts of daily forgiveness because we still mess up and gifts of His Word - bits of wisdom to help us get through the day or night better than we would on our own. How many times are these gifts rejected? You know....one more load of laundry to do, one more FB game to play, one more inning to watch, one more episode of my favorite tv show; one more church activity to do....the list goes on and on. His precious gifts rejected. Do you see the sorrow? What would it hurt to take one precious bite? One "Lord, forgive me for ____." One verse to read. We just might enjoy it.
So if you will excuse me, I have a precious gift to go open...and enjoy.
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