I was speaking to a father of a teenage girl today.  He was expressing an ample amount of frustration…which isn’t unusual for the parent of a teen. His issue with the daughter was that she didn’t take care of or seem to care about the things she had been given.  Those things included a car, tuition for private schooling, sports gear for all her sporting interests, etc.

The money wasn’t the issue.  The issue was that she did not appreciate the hard work, the sacrifice, it took for him to provide those things. Those were his expressions of love and when she didn’t take care of the car or put maximum effort into her schooling, he felt totally unappreciated and felt as if his best gifts had no value.  He felt unloved by his daughter.

Later, I was thinking about how our Heavenly Father must feel when we ignore, reject, or take for granted his greatest gift to us…his Son. Thanksgiving is this week.  How many of us may go through the day focused on food and football without taking a moment to express thanks for all that we have in Jesus? Christmas is waiting in the wings and we are already desperately or frustratingly looking for gifts that are just what our loved ones would want or need.  How many of us will invest hours and maybe significant cost into the “perfect gift, ” as an expression of  our love and appreciation for that person?  How many of us would be hurt or even angry if the friend or family member we had spent hours and energy shopping for, simply tossed the gift aside as something of little value or interest?

Jesus is the greatest gift and it is important to remember he was a gift.  God was not obligated to give us Jesus.  He was given as a gift. Isaiah put it this way,  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end (Isa. 9:6-7, emphasis added).

John spoke of that same gift when he said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn.3:16-17, emphasis).

This gift was an astounding expression of God’s love for each of us.  It was purchased at the ultimate cost, but it met our ultimate need…reconnection with our Father and eternal life with Him.  Amazingly, he picked out the gift before the creation of the world and gave it to us while we were still estranged from him. The apostle Paul wrote, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7-8).

Here is my point.  God has given us the ultimate expression of his love and the ultimate cost of his own Son.  If we treat that gift casually or toss it aside, how will we face the Father, the giver of our gift?  We feel hurt or angry if someone doesn’t value the car we gave them or the education we have sacrificed to pay for.  How much more should the Father feel that way when we treat his son with contempt or indifference or simply casually?

So…as you shop feverishly for the perfect gift over the next few weeks or as you stand in long lines on Black Friday, think of the perfect gift given to you at extreme cost and take a moment to cherish the gift and then take great care with what has been given to you.