The Unending Gift

Maybe it is the season.  Maybe I have been receiving some gifts of a different kind in these recent days. Whatever the case, my awareness of being thankful for the blessing provided in the unexpected gifts has overflowed.  The gifts came wrapped as two old friends.  They are old friends not just because they are old like me, but because our friendship goes back a long way.  The first was a guy who has faithfully prayed for me since I served as his pastor in my first church.  The second was someone I have known since we were teenagers connecting through ham radio.  Hearing their voices again in these days was a blessing akin to something heavenly.    

I remember that Jesus had friends.  Lazarus, of course, is the most notable one.  Surely, the disciples became more to Jesus than just people to be mentored.  His care for them obviously went far beyond the boundaries of that single relationship.  And, then, there is that moment of teaching when He spoke of them as friends in such a way as to draw all of us who follow Him into the net He was casting with His love and mercy.  "I do not call you servants any longer....but I have called you friends..."  (John 15:15)     

Not all our gifts during this Christmas season will come wrapped in festive paper and colorful ribbon.  Perhaps, the best are those wrapped tightly within the wrappings of the friendships which have brought us untold blessings in days past and continue to bless even in the present day when the separation of distance and years is broken by the memories that linger in the inner part of our life.  It is truly amazing how God can bring people into our lives who are important to our present moment and how the memory of their gifts gifts once more.