Considering that I sent a Christmas wish to you all just last week, I was a bit reluctant to publish another post today. However, this subject came to mind during the week and when I received a video that was similar, I had no choice but to sit down and blog.

Many years ago, I recall sitting in my dad’s car looking out the window, when a still small voice within me started speaking. The voice in question? was the voice of the Holy spirit of God and here’s what he told me. “Onuoma, if you come across a person that’s good natured and rich and loves to give, don’t take the person’s kindness as a reason to always ask for more and more gifts”. I pondered on this statement for a very long time as a young teenager wondering who exactly God was referring to.

Now to digress a bit, when Jesus walked the earth, he always spoke in parables as is obvious in several chapters of the New Testament and, If you recall, I wrote some time ago about Genuine paradoxes.

Now the above statement I heard, was a paradox, and it had a clear meaning but it took some time for me to unravel. It wasn’t until much later in life that I understood the meaning and the person referenced in the statement. Jesus was simply talking about himself.

You see many times as believers, we come to God more for what we can get and less for what we can give. Jesus was telling me that true worship of him and he alone comes from an attitude of service and less of want.

This is stated plainly in the Bible: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. Matthew 6v33.

The highest form of worship we can give to God is in our coming to him not for what we seek to gain but in surrendering ourselves totally and wholly. He was thus saying to me – “Yes Onuoma, I’m good-natured, ever loving, owner of the whole earth and everything within but don’t see that as a reason to always keep asking me for things but give me yourself and when you do so, I’ll give you me and all that comes with me”.

Sadly, many of us Christians are treading the earth disappointed, wondering where exactly we missed it and why Jehovah seems not to be answering our prayers.

He has answered us but just in a very different way.  He wants to be part of our lives and to deal first with unsettled issues lurking deep within our souls. It may be that character that seems to defeat us, the pain underneath our smiles, a deep-seated root of bitterness or anger.

He wants all of us and as we pour out our lives surrendering wholly to him by seeking his face in prayer, reading his word, and his walking in his righteousness, only then, will he pour out himself on us and all our earthly problems will start to dissipate.

Now I know that many of us have had a very trying year and for some of us, the zeal to celebrate this Christmas may not be one of our utmost goals. We may have chosen for it to be a time of inward reflection. Whatever the situation, I want you to know that Jesus has not deserted you.

He’s right there beside you in that problem you deem as insurmountable. He’s only asking for one thing and that is to have access to us and as we openly surrender to his will and his way, he’ll cause the storm that’s raging in our lives to cease.

The answer simply lies in our giving.

Take care.