Daily Devotional for August 8, 2021
The Best Kind of Gift
All I have for Mom’s birthday is the recipe book I made in my class at school and the flowers I picked, thought Nicole. I wish I had money so I could get her something really nice. She knew Dad had bought Mom a new phone, Nick had gotten her a necklace, and Natalie had bought Mom a bottle of her favorite perfume.
When Nicole gave Mom her birthday gift, Nick looked at the flowers and snorted. “Those are weeds,” he said.
Natalie raised her eyebrows when she saw the cover of the recipe book that Nicole had drawn herself. “Did you make that at school?” she asked. Nicole could hear a hint of disdain in her voice.
“I love both of these things!” Mom said, but Nicole ran from the room, crying. Mom got up to follow her.
Nicole cried harder as her mother gathered her into her arms. “The gifts I gave you aren’t as nice as the other things you got,” she said.
Mom kissed Nicole’s forehead. “To me they are. I can see you spent a lot of time on the recipe book—and I already saw a recipe I want to try tomorrow. And I love flowers!”
Nicole sniffed. “I saw those in the field behind Grandma’s house. I thought they were pretty, so I picked them for you.”
“They’re very pretty,” Mom said, “and that was so sweet of you.” She hugged Nicole. “One thing I like so much about your gift is that it came from your heart. A gift from the heart is the best kind of all. I can’t think of anything I would like better.”
“Really?” asked Nicole.
“Really,” said Mom. “And you know what? You not only gave me the recipe book and flowers, you also gave me a wonderful example of the kind of gift we should give to God.”
“What should we give Him?” Nicole asked.
“Ourselves,” said Mom. “To give Him ourselves means to love and serve Him with all our hearts in response to the gift He gave us—His own Son, Jesus, who died and rose again to save us from sin. That’s the best gift we can give.” She took Nicole’s hand. “C’mon. Let’s go have some of my birthday cake.” -Jane Weverink
How about you?
Have you accepted the gift God offers you—eternal life through Jesus? (See “Have You Heard the Good News?” on page 102.) In return, have you given yourself to Him? Do you serve Him because you love Him and want others to know Him too? Are you willing to give up your time or money to show others His love? He gave you the best gift of all when He sent Jesus to save you. Give Him yourself in return.
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