I like getting gifts, don’t you?  It’s always exciting to receive a neatly wrapped box, regardless the size, and anticipate what might be in there.  Our minds race through the list of those things we secretly would like to have and we begin to rule some out based on the size of the box.

            I remember a gift I received once.  At the time I was working at a factory in Columbus, Indiana.  The workers in my department wanted to exchange gifts.  We determined that the easiest way to do it would be for the women to bring a woman’s gift and the men to bring a man’s gift.  In that way everyone would receive a gift appropriate for them.

            I watched as others tore into their gifts and some of them were very good gifts.  I received mine and opened it up.  “What could it be?” I imagined.  All sorts of things raced through my mind.  When I got it open I discovered that it was a thing-a-ma-jig; some sort of display.  It had a black liquid substance in it along with what looked to be water.  When you turned it over the black liquid kind of oozed down forming different shapes.  The person who bought it was watching me and as I pulled it out of the box he came over to where I was and began explaining it to me.

            He thought it was a grand gift.  I didn’t.  But of course I didn’t tell him that; wouldn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings who had meant well.  So I played with it a time or two and then carefully slid it back into the box.  Needless to say, I wasn’t into thing-a-ma-jigs that sat on a shelf that you could turn over every once in a while to watch the black stuff ooze down.  I pretended that I liked the gift to save hurt feelings but I was disappointed.

            I kept that thing for several years.  I did actually put it on a shelf in my home office and two or three times a year I’d pick it up and watch the black stuff ooze down, and I would think, “What a waste of time, energy and money!”

            1 Corinthians 2:12 tells us, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”  What a gift!  The gift of God is never a disappointment.

            First of all Paul tells us that we have not received the spirit of the world.  Have you ever given much thought as to what the spirit of the world is?  Not many have, unless of course they have received the Spirit of God.  The spirit of the world teaches us that there is nothing beyond our fleshly existence.  The spirit of the world tells us that no one is going to help us so we’ve just got to do whatever it takes to get by, regardless of the feelings of others. 

            The spirit of the world may at times appear to be good and caring and there are many good and caring people who have not come to the Lord.  They mean well but the gifts they give are a lot like that thing-a-ma-jig; pretty to look at once or twice a year but not very practical.

            The spirit of the world never looks to God for answers but only to themselves.  When an answer cannot be adequately explained or received then they just change the rules.

            But we have received the Spirit of God – The Holy Spirit who has come to live with us in our lives.  He is always present even when we don’t feel Him; He’s still right there.  The Spirit of God is always a practical gift, one that won’t leave us confused as to just what this is.  He will teach us the things of God and show us how to live a full, rich life in Jesus Christ.

            God is extending His hand today with a gift.  We each have a choice; we can refuse the gift with words like “I don’t want charity … No one gives you something without expecting something in return,” or a host of other answers.  If we choose to reject God’s gift then we lose out.  But when we extend our hands and except God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, then He will come in and make our lives better than we ever dreamed and we will wonder at what we have received.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.