His Best Gift

Hope Church Family,


As I listen to or receive correspondence from various ministries, in recent years a number of them have used a similar approach in seeking donations. They will offer an incentive, usually a book or a message in digital form, in exchange for my “best gift“. Of course, they leave it to me to determine the amount of my best gift, but the goal is to incentivize me to give generously.

I began with a partial quote of John 3:16. You know the full verse:


God gave his best gift to those who could offer him absolutely nothing. Instead, after giving his, his Son gave his life to satisfy the judgment of God against us. And after going through that unthinkable ordeal, the Father raised him from the dead and took him back to heaven, to sit at his right hand, the place of favor and authority. And if that were not enough, what Jesus had accomplished, he offers as a free gift to us. The requirement? We place our trust in him, believing that what he has done is sufficient to deliver us from spiritual death, make us right with God, and give us eternal life.

Now, I am not critical of ministries that encourage us to send our best gift. In light of all that God has done for us and the benefit that we get from many of these ministries who teach us God‘s word and give us godly counsel, it’s only appropriate that we would be financially generous in return. All I am saying is that our best gifts pale in comparison to the gift that God has given us in his Son.

In response to his great gift, what else can we do other than give our entire selves?

The hymn writer said it eloquently:


Amazed at God's gift,
Pastor Charles