Why not just say “yes”?

How could you ever accept this kind of Gift?  The gift of the power and presence and holiness of the Creator of everything isn’t a bike, or a sweater, or a pair of shoes…

It’s okay to admit.  “Hi, I’m Joe… I have a hard time accepting gifts.”  Sometimes it can be hard to receive a gift from someone, right?  Especially if it’s expensive.  And maybe you didn’t really know the giver very well, or you hadn’t been particularly nice to the giver. 

But the giver already spent the money, they can’t return the gift to the store, and they’re insisting you take the gift… So wouldn’t it be easier to just try accepting the gift and say a big happy “thank you”?  (Maybe you’d tell others the “good news” about the great gift you got from your new generous friend?)

This is the point of the gift of His righteousness… you’ll want to tell others about it when you receive it for yourself.  Without it there’s no good news to tell.  So you really have to receive it!

Receiving His gift starts simply by your willingness to say from your heart, “Yes Lord, I believe you want to give me Your righteousness.  Thank You Father for being so generous with me.” 

Each person of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is working for you, praying for you, and making Himself totally available for you to receive their precious gift. 

But you must get over yourself to receive it.  Pride resists gifts like an unhappy adult.  But humility receives gifts like an excited child! 

Jesus warned us of the potential difficulty for adults to receive this gift:

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it…”  (Mark 10:15)

It’s critical to receive it because everything good in life comes through His gift according to Jesus:

But strive first for the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

It is critical for you—and everyone you care about—to know this. “Eucharist is first of all thanksgiving.” (Catechism 1360)

But your mind tries to keep arguing: “Why would God want to give this to me?  I don’t deserve this Gift!”  That answer is the best part.  The answer to “why me?” is everything.  It is the key that allows you to receive this Gift… and it’s the focus of the next blog posts, so keep reading!

“Every generous act of giving, with every Perfect Gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)

“This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that He has carried out in Christ Jesus Our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in Him.” (Ephesians 3:11-12)