The Special Gift

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17 ESV). Most of us enjoy getting special gifts for no reason. A time when somebody thinks about us during part of their day and goes out hunting for something special to give us. The value of the gift is not important at all and even a gift from the dollar store is grand. When others have those types of thoughts about us, it makes our day light up. We feel special when someone thinks of us enough to put just a little energy into helping us understand their thoughts. There is a special gift that God has prepared and is waiting until we get to heaven to before He gives it to us. It might be perhaps the most special gift other than the gift of life forever in heaven. God has prepared a White Stone for each of us with a name on it. The name on the stone is a name only He knows and the name one lover calls another in private because it reveals something very personal about their relationship. God will give us a gift of immeasurable proportions a gift that gives us a name based on our relationship with Him. God is the most passionate of lover waiting for us every day to romance us. We forget and think that our identity even our capacity to receive gifts from God comes from our merit. We stay caught up in the thought of striving for everything we want or need, even love we search for daily. The most romantic lover of all is waiting for us; yet, we try to find other places that we would rather be. These other places are spiritual abiding places not of God that we go to find comfort and belonging. We often wander from place to place, thing-to-thing never fulfilled. In John 15, Jesus tells us that we must stay with Him and Him only. We must make our home with Him and He will make His home in us. To stop the wandering we must realize that our identity comes from simply "staying at home" and not trying to fill the void in other ways. It may be surprising but holiness also comes not out of doing, but staying at home. Our real home, which as Christians is Christ, remains in us. When we go out place-to-place searching for love and fulfillment, that fulfillment is as close as simply stopping to find it. Our home, our love, and our fulfillment is Christ who is in us. Where are you looking for love today? If you will turn to Christ, you will certainly find the deepest love and care that you could imagine. Nothing can compare to Him. Give yourself completely to Him and see the difference it makes in your life.