(Jesus said) “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Luke 11:13
Did you ever watch the face of a little boy who just received socks for his birthday?
I think that look was the look, which flashed across the face of Sister Virginia Muller when she received the baseball card. I mean, what is a nun going to do with a baseball card? Even worse, this baseball card wasn’t a new card; it wasn’t the rookie card of some famous player who is currently making billions and billions of dollars.
Nope, this was a very old card and it carried the name of a player of whom she had never heard. The name on the card was Honus Wagner.
For those of you who don’t know, Honus Wagner played in the early years of the 1900s. He was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. And there are only 60 of his cards in existence. This is why, when his card was auctioned off by Heritage Auction Galleries of Texas, it sold for $262,000.
That story, which was carried by the Associated Press, is a reminder that many of God’s gifts are like that card: unappreciated. For example, God’s Son came to us as a baby and was placed in an animal’s feeding trough. If you had looked at that child, would you have understood what He would do?
The final price for our salvation was paid on a skull-shaped hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Would you have guessed that cruel cross was God’s way of giving you forgiveness of sins, reconciliation and eternal life?
What other gifts has the Lord bestowed upon us, which were delivered in a simple and unassuming way? Each of us will answer the question differently, but each of us should have an answer.
And that answer should make us give thanks.
Dear Lord, open my eyes so I may see the many blessings and bounties you so liberally give to me. Then, having seen, may I be thankful. This I ask in the name of your best and my most needed Gift. Amen.
Grace and Peace
Steve
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The Journey 