Day 19: The Gifts I Wrap

Like the rest of humanity, I set aside some time for gift-wrapping. As I was about to wrap my gift for JC, I happened to read the first line of the book: “The world is no friend to grace.”

That stopped me in my tracks and I got entrapped. I couldn’t put down A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene H. Peterson. I rationalized that wrapping gifts could wait. But reading the gifts I was about to wrap could not.

JC likes Peterson’s Bible translation, The Message. So I decided to give him a book by the author. As I have been doing the past Christmases since I became an author, I give books as presents.

Peterson explains that a person who makes a commitment to Jesus as Lord and Savior does not find a crowd applauding his decision; no friends gathering around to offer congratulations. Grace is non-news to the world.

What a sad commentary on our state of affairs. Yet it is grace, as Christians know it, that saves man from death. In Hebrews 12: 15 we read, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled . . .”

The world has been defiled by bitterness, making much trouble in people’s minds. As Christmas approaches once again, may all the activities attune us to the greatest news on Earth. For in John 3: 17 we read, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Dear God, I pray that the Christmas season enlighten people Dear God, I pray that the Christmas season enlighten people about the good news of Your saving grace.

This is an excerpt from Grac Found Me by Grace Chong, now available at OMF Lit and Passages Bookshops, and PCBS for only P325.

It is easy for busy women to drown in a sea of responsibilities and to be faced with doubt and worry each day. In Grace Found Me, author Grace D. Chong points you to Him who can give rest to your heart and soul. Allow Him to remind you who He is and what He can do so you will no longer fret. Grace Found Me is a recipient of the 2012 Gintong Aklat (Golden Book) Award, Inspirational Category, from the Book Development Association of the Philippines.