You know how you feel when someone gives you an especially thoughtful gift. Most likely that person knows you really well and is very attentive to the things you say and do. My daughter, Abby, has been giving thoughtful gifts from the time she could figure out how to gift wrap. One Christmas, when she was about four or five years old, she wrapped up things around the house to “give” us on Christmas day. One by one as each of us opened our gift from her she would stand right in front of us and watch us open up her gift, grinning ear to ear, she could hardly wait for us to get into it!

When it was my turn to unwrap her gift she brought me a shoebox sized package that felt very light. When I shook it nothing rattled. As I lifted the lid and peeked inside I saw that…there was nothing in the box. I looked up at this little bundle of joy, dancing around in front of me, as she declared, “it’s empty!…because I’M your present!” Oh how precious that memory is to me. And what a delightful gift she has indeed been to me from the moment she arrived!

I believe that day I got a little glimpse of our Father’s joy when we open up a gift He’s given us. How often do we leave His gifts to us unopened? Do we believe that we don’t deserve His gifts? Do we get so busy doing things on our own we don’t take time to sit with Him and open our hearts to what He has for us? Regardless of what hinders us…the bottom line is this…God is the giver of the best gifts of all! And I imagine that He excitedly leans in with great joy when we discover that HE is our greatest gift!

Matthew 7:11 (GNT) says, “As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” God has great things for us. Don’t miss out on what He has for you today!