Generosity Beyond Measure

-- Imagine an edict has gone out from Heaven, putting humankind in charge of determining who is going to receive eternal life. How do you think people would go about it? For a prize so great to be given out, people might hold a contest of some kind, like a beauty pageant or a football game, a singing competition or tennis match. People would have to prove they were the best at something, wouldn't they? There would surely be forms to fill out . . . lots and lots of forms and disclaimers and legal mumbo jumbo--just to make sure it was all handled fairly of course. Or maybe the powers that be would decide to create a difficult quest of some kind and only the people who successfully completed the quest would qualify for eternal life, yeah, that's probably how they'd do it. Imagine the rules that would have to be followed and the entry fees that would have to be paid. I'm guessing there would be major hoops to be jumped through and hurdles to be cleared for anyone who fancied a chance at eternal life, if it were even possible. I mean in the world of humanity, nothing comes for free, and certainly nothing of any value comes without a high price tag! Thankfully, people don't determine the distribution of eternal life, God does. Eternal life for finite, broken, little old us, was God's idea. He could have done anything He wanted to do and with limitless possibilities open to Him, He chose to send His only Son to be born as a baby, grow up as one of us, and ultimately to die in our place to pay our sin debt in full. This is what Jesus said about God's plan for giving away eternal life: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24 NIV Are you as incredulous and amazed as I am at the incomprehensible generosity of God. Whoever BELIEVES!! Not whoever is beautiful enough, not whoever is strongest, fastest or bravest, not the people with the deepest pockets, not even the ones who could jump over all the hurdles or fill out the forms without making any mistakes, no . . . Jesus said,

WHOEVER BELIEVES!

It's so simple, it's beyond profound:

The gift whose worth cannot be measured given freely to people who can never measure up!! THAT is Christmas. THAT is the Gift. THAT is the Generosity of God.

As we approach these last days leading up to Christmas and we anticipate the fun of giving gifts as generous as we are able to give to our loved ones, I am praying that we will experience and share the knowledge of God's great big magnanimous soul as never before, and that we will each receive His gift of eternal life to its fullest measure.

From the Friday Family to you and yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas filled with His incomparable joy!