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Sep 15, 2022 08:00am

God’s Abundant Generosity

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“You’re going to love this,” my friend declared as she handed me a birthday gift. I quickly unwrapped and opened the box.

I was trying to act excited, but there was one problem:

I didn’t know what it was.

It was wooden and shaped like a big cup with holes in it. I had never seen anything like it.
She could tell I didn’t know what to do with it, so she explained it to me and showed me how to use it. Any guesses what it was?

A phone amplifier! As it turns out, I did love it, I just needed her to help me understand what it was and how to use it.

I’ve noticed there are two types of gift-givers. One type watches you open your gift and immediately gives an apologetic reason you probably won’t like it. “I didn’t know what you’d like…you probably already have one…I couldn’t find anything else…here’s the receipt!”

The second kind of gift-giver sits right next to you because they’re thrilled to give you the gift. As you pull it out of the box, they squeal because they know it’s just right. They begin to tell you all the reasons it’s perfect for you. “I thought this would really look good on you…you’re going to use this all the time…I have this and love it…” These are my favorite types of gift-givers because their excitement is contagious, and they can’t wait to enjoy the gift with you.

I thought about the different kinds of gift-givers as I read the Scripture below. I have read this verse many times, but this time, I was overwhelmed by what God was teaching me.

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 1 Corinthians 2:12

Have you ever considered what it means that the Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us?

The main gift God freely gives us is salvation through His Son. It is “freely given” to us, because He paid the cost through the blood of His Son. It is free to us because it is not something we have earned, but rather have been “gifted.” If the gift of salvation was all God ever gave us, that would be enough, but because God is generous, He gives us more. Abundantly more.

After I read this Scripture, I began writing a list of all God has given us. As you can imagine, that list was quite long. A few of them included: salvation, forgiveness, love, spiritual gifts…
I encourage you to make such a list as well.
For each one listed, I wondered “how has the Spirit helped me understand this gift?”

When we first come to know the Lord, we learn of gifts such as love and forgiveness and think our knowledge of those gifts is complete. As we continue on our journey with Him, we soon learn what we thought was complete knowledge was merely scratching the surface.

What abundant, generous grace that God not only “freely gives us” gifts, but also gives us the Holy Spirit to teach us and help us understand each gift. Like my friend who generously gave me the gift and then helped me understand the gift, the Spirit helps us “understand what God has freely given us.” He is always with us; His excitement is contagious; and He can’t wait to enjoy God’s gifts with us.

Isn’t it just like our generous God to not only “freely give” us all things, but then in addition to that, give us His Spirit as our perpetual teacher!

Oh Lord, teach us how to learn from You. Open our minds and hearts to understand more fully what You have freely given us. May we each walk in gratitude today for Your abundant generosity.