Thirty days ago our missions team were in flight from Accra, Ghana to Amsterdam, in route to Detroit and then home again in the Indianapolis area; with an aggressive case of reverse culture shock. After being in the Accra area for ten days and actually into “the bush” for two days we saw the simplicity and sometimes poverty in which other people live.

 

Today, December 4th,  I went into a church building to do some business. As I was leaving I saw a box of chocolates sitting on the counter of the reception area, assuming it was there for visitors or those passing by to help themselves. So I looked carefully to find just the right chocolate to satisfy my taste buds. Upon closer inspection I noticed that several had been squeezed or broken into and then left in the box. The Receptionist said, “We have a lot of picky eaters around here”.

 

The Lord spoke into my heart at that exact moment. Someone had given these chocolates as a gift for several people to enjoy. Seemingly, several people didn’t like the gift and returned it to the box and selected another piece or maybe had to repeat the testing process several times to “get what they wanted”. My heart was broken. We here in America have more of the worlds resources than anywhere in the world, and yet we pick and choose and are many times not grateful for the simple gift that has been given. The people in Ghana would have gratefully and graciously been so thankful just to have a box of chocolates, not caring what the filling was, just to have the sweet savor of something in their mouths.

 

Then the Lord spoke again, “Christians are the same way, they pick and choose their way through My Bible and  take the things they like and are pleasing to their taste, but leave the “bitter” things, even though they are as true as the sweet. Christians live life in their own way and on their own terms, not considering My ways and My terms”.

 

Forest Gump once said, ”Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get”. My friends, please, please, please be thankful for all you have. In this season that we celebrate our Lord’s birth, remember, For God so loved the world, that He gave… don’t reject the Gift!. When this season is over, don’t put Jesus back in the “box” and put Him back on the shelf for another year.

 

I did not ask to be born in America, but I’m thankful I was. I did not ask to be born Caucasian, but I am. I did not ask for God to reveal Himself to me, but He did.  Grace and Peace to you all.