Here’s another short vignette that illustrates a fundamental point:
My wife Clare had been estranged from her dad for many years even though she had tried hard to reconnect with him. One day when she was shopping she found a beautiful chess set. She knew that her dad loved chess so even though it was very expensive she bought it, had it wrapped up and shipped to him. She never got a response or a thank you.
Many years later when he died, she went to clean out his apartment. In his closet she found the chess set still in the original shipping package, unopened! In his bitterness, he never even opened the gift!
Sadly, many people are like that. God has offered us the beautiful gift of His love and acceptance through Jesus but they refuse to open His gift.
Other people who may have initially accepted His gift, stagnate because they don’t seem to realize that He keeps on giving more and more love and a closer relationship with Him. In 2 Peter 3:16 He says “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Let’s be careful to acknowledge with gratitude all that Jesus has done for us.