Our Marvelous Gifts: As we travel down the road of life,many discover t...

Our Marvelous Gifts: As we travel down the road of life,many discover t...: As we travel down the road of life, many discover their gift or gifts. Such a gift is used to be a witness of one's life and for hel...

As we travel down the road of life, many discover their gift or gifts. Such a gift is used to be a witness of one's life and for helping others. As a result there is a call to be gracious and to love others deeply and effectively. But the purpose of such a gift is not only to enrich people, poor and well-to-do alike, but to be like a shining light in their midst. To accomplish these things it is necessary to engage in an active life. It is a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher Voltaire

(1694 – 1778) that wrote, “God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” It will be well to focus on four superb Gifts of Life: 1) Gift of Nature, 2) Gift of Knowledge, 3) Gift of Peace, and 4) Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Gift of Nature

A Liberal politician, philanthropist and scientist John Lubbock (1834 – 1913) observed, “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountains and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” With ecologically consciousness minds, there is much talk and and some action about caring for nature and as stewards we are called by God to take care of His creation. As we care for the earth's immensity of trees, lakes, rivers, streams, mountains and valleys we are able to experience each spring a surge of new life of birds, fishes and an abundance of wildlife in parks, forests and jungles. This display like what Lubbock observed has much to teach us unlike books, for farmers and gardeners depend on nature's variation for much of our knowledge, food, clothing and medicine.

Gift of Knowledge

A Classical Greek philosopher Socrates (470/469 – 399BC) argued, “To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.” Socrates zeroes in on the senses of human beings that are deceptive in our world that is constantly changing. Often there are mistakes made about observations, even when done empirically in science. Many experience the throes of life that they may feel repulsed by, but even these hardships, difficulties and illnesses bring with them lessons by which we learn. As we try deciphering these things, many find their thought-processes polluted by their senses. We are then left asking ourselves what has happened to the tools of knowledge that we were taught and experienced over years of devoted study and work? In the process our lifestyles might have been changed and unlike Socrates we conclude like the preeminent English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) “Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.”

Gift of Peace

An East Indian politician and attorney Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) remarked, “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” That is why forgiving is most important. We must reciprocate when others touch our lives. By tasting life's possibilities we must be open to being channels of peace. It will be good to practice the pureness of living and view it as one's mission to perpetuate peace. It must be a lifestyle that a believer ought to endeavor to sustain. In the process he must be a witness about the good things about life. This is why a constant dialogue with all conflicting parties is so essential. As the German born physicist Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) noted, “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” Problems that arise between leaders, societies and nations have to be confronted by dialogue to counter those issues that evade our understanding and cause turmoil.

Gift of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a free gift from God. It is one of the greatest gifts that a believer can have. Undoubtedly, it is a life-giving force that is the light of life. Through His spirit a Christian will enjoy a supreme quality of life. One that is illuminated, new, full with an experience of everlasting love. Such an indwelling is sustained by the a lifestyle of caring and compassion. This is by pursuing a Christian walk of simplicity and humility. A believer with the Holy Spirit always shares in the everlasting and abiding truth by living a pious life. It is the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia - Charles Stanley (b. 1932) that testified, “Earthly wisdom is doing what comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do.”