Pay Forward

Here it is…the day after…the day after Christmas.
What a wonderful Christmas it was.
Here in Pennsylvania, it began to snow late afternoon on Christmas Eve.
It was such a beautiful drive to church for Christmas Eve services.
The snow covered the ground and clung to every branch…every rooftop.

Something so peaceful about new-fallen snow.
Something so pure…so clean…so new!
It was a Christmas gift…sent right from His Hand.
We haven’t had a white Christmas in years!

It always amazes me how fast Christmas goes by.
All the preparation…decorating, shopping, wrapping.
All the preparation…and the morning is over so quickly.

I have read so many comments with the same thoughts.
It’s over too fast…
Christmas goes by in a blur…
Ten minutes and its over…
My living room is a mess…

Stop!
Step back!
Take a deep breath!
Take a new look!

My son, Brian, had been away for the weekend prior to Christmas.
Coming home and approaching a toll booth, he waited in line until it was his turn.
Reaching the attendant, he put his hand out to pay the toll.
Your toll has been paid for. The person in front of you paid it.

What a blessing!
My son paid the toll for the person behind him.
As he told me the story, he wondered when it stopped.
What person ended the random act of kindness…and why?

Pay forward!
An expression used to describe the concept of asking the beneficiary of a good deed to repay it to others instead of to the original benefactor.
It made my son’s day.
He prayed that he made someone else’s day.
And so on…and so on…

Gift giving is messy. God gave the gift of His Son…wrapped in flesh…born like us…messy!
God allowed His Son to be born to die…on a cross…flogged beyond recognition…messy.
God allowed His Son to be buried in a tomb…wrapped in spices and linens…messy.

We complain about the brevity of Christmas, or our messy living rooms.
We have lost sight of the pay forward perspective.
We have lost sight of Him!

God’s Gift is given.
We can never repay Him for the Gift He gave us.
The precious Gift of His Son, Jesus.

We can never repay Him…but we can pay forward.
Who can we tell?
Who can we share God’s love with today?
Who needs to receive His Gift?

What scenario ended the toll booth kindness?
No money…not in the Christmas spirit…poor attitude…selfishness?
One can only speculate.

On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his men coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.” Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O King, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “may the Lord your God accept you.” But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:18-24)

Gift giving must cost you something.
Your gift giving may be thankless.
Your gift giving may be messy…as you spend time cleaning up all your preparations.

That’s okay.
It cost God the Father, His Son.
It cost Jesus His life.

We receive blessing after blessing from His Hand.
Do we acknowledge the Giver?
We can never begin to repay Him…our debt is too great!
We can pay forward…share the Good Gift we received…with others.

Or we can keep silent.
We can neglect to share the Gift.
Do we dare?

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-20)

We have every reason to pay forward.
We are commanded to do just that.

 

2 responses to “Pay Forward”

1. Gina,
   Your messages have been such a blessing to me this year; this one in particular inspires me to see the opportunities I have each day to pay forward by sharing the message of the greatest gift ever given. I look forward to this next year with great hope that He will use me like never before!
   So happy to be called your “Sweet Sister”
   Linda Perry

   Reply

   • Linda,
     Your encouragement means so much.
     I am delighted that you are blessed by the words…yet the praise goes to Him…who gives me the eyes to see and the ears to hear the faintest whisper of Him in the everyday.
     Yes…sisters in the Lord…studying His Word together…and worshiping together.
     Many Blessings in the New Year.
     Gina

     Reply