If you could only receive one gift from God – only one gift ever – what would you choose? 

That question is probably akin to the old “how many angels can dance on the head of a needle” problem.  If you pursue it with any seriousness, it could land you in the mad house.  There are thousands of potential answers and millions of resulting scenarios that come with those answers.

For example, if I chose salvation as the only gift I would ever receive from God, I would be assured of stepping into the kingdom at some point and meeting the King face to face.  But, if God couldn’t give me any more gifts at that point…if He could not extend mercy when I met Him…salvation may be a terrifying thing.  Or, if I chose God’s love, I would have a heavenly Father who is madly passionate about me, but unable to protect me from my sinful nature.  And if I chose something more temporal – like worldly comfort – I would never know the true riches of life.

As I said, there are millions of potential scenarios.  Thankfully, every one of them is hypothetical and unscriptural.  Because choosing a single gift from God would be frightening at best and ultimately impossible.

The more I think through that question, the more I recognize the richness of God’s generosity.  His giving surpasses mine at every point.  His thoughtful gifts, including the gift of His own Son, are too numerous to recount.  From creation, to the gospel and the kingdom, all that He does is infused with generosity.

I think most believers instinctively know that God is radically generous.  We don’t often sit down and think through the gifts that He extends, but something deep within us testifies to the fact that we would be helpless apart from His loving kindness.  In fact, when almost 15,000 church members from across the U.S. were asked about their personal generosity, the majority identified “God’s grace and what I have been given by Jesus Christ” as the driving motivation for their own giving.

We desperately need God’s ongoing generosity.  It gives us life and reshapes us into the image of the Author of life.

Jesus and the Prostitute

I love the story that Luke recounts about Jesus and the prostitute.  It sounds scandalous just to say “Jesus and the prostitute.” Truthfully, she’s never called a prostitute by Luke, but her reputation preceded her.  She was well known for her life of sin and shame.

For whatever reason, she felt comfortable enough with Jesus that she boldly walked through a judgmental Pharisee’s home to get to Him.  She knelt on the ground and worshipped through sobs.  She used her hair and tears to clean His feet and then poured her trust fund on Him by way of perfume.

That’s when the scandal really unfolded.  Jesus looked on her lovingly and told the Pharisee, “ ‘I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.’ Then Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your sins are forgiven’” (Luke 7:47-48 NLT). 

That’s the way God’s scandalous gifts of grace work.

I think I have a lot in common with that sinful woman.  Honestly, if God only gave me one gift, I would hope it would be the same gift that she received…the gift of Jesus.  But thankfully, God’s radical generosity is not limited to one gift. 

I need to gather up my trust fund.  I have a lot of thanking to do.