Do you know
the most profitable items any retail store can sell? They’re probably gift cards,
because often they’re never redeemed. Someone has handed over a chunk of cash
to buy someone else a gift they’ll not receive.
It’s
estimated that between eight and 10 percent of gift cards go unredeemed. They’re
stashed in wallets and forgotten, hidden in drawers, or disposed of
accidentally. Every year more than $1 billion in gift cards go unused. That’s a
lot of Starbucks coffee, iTunes music and Walmart merchandise never claimed!
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| Gift cards are valuable - but only if they're used. |
Even though
we live in a consumer-oriented society, this doesn’t surprise me. I just
checked, and I’ve got several unused or only partially used gift cards. They’re
nice to have, but sometimes we lose track of them. Out of sight, out of mind.
(However, now that I’ve reminded myself, I plan to use them before they slip my
mind again.)
One good
thing about a forgotten gift card is stumbling across it. It’s like finding
buried treasure. It was there all the time; we just didn’t realize it.
You know
what’s worse than unexpended gift cards? Unclaimed or unused gifts from God. In
the Scriptures, we read about the gift of salvation, His assurance of eternal
life: “For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no
one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The apostle
Paul wrote to believers in the ancient city of Corinth, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians
9:15). Elsewhere he writes about “God’s
grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ…” (Romans
5:15).
Unfortunately,
this priceless gift is too often treated like a retail gift card that’s been
cast aside. People never tap into its potential value, either through ignorance
(they don’t know it’s available), neglect (they’ve forgotten about it), or
denial (they choose not to receive the gift to apply it to their credit).
What’s
exciting is when an individual does discover this gift, at last understanding
its worth and eagerly receiving all it entails. It’s that “Wow!” moment many of
us still remember, the start of a transformed life we could never have
imagined. Much better than finding a long-forgotten gift card neatly tucked
away in the sock drawer!
Salvation –
once-and-for-all forgiveness, and the promise of life eternal – isn’t the only gift
the Scriptures tell us is available. We read also about spiritual gifts, enumerated
in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and other passages. These include the gifts of
leadership, teaching, mercy, faith, encouragement, giving, serving, and
others. We’re told every follower of Christ has at least one spiritual gift, intended
to complement the work and service of other members of God’s family, just as
the organs of a human body function together in harmony to promote health.
Similar to
gift cards, however, the availability of spiritual gifts doesn’t guarantee
their usefulness. For this reason, Paul repeatedly exhorted his protégé,
Timothy, to be a faithful steward of what God had given him. He wrote, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within
you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on
of hands by the presbytery [elders of the church]” (1 Timothy 4:14).
In a second
letter to Timothy, Paul repeated the challenge: “For this reason I remind you to fan into
flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands
(2 Timothy 1:6). Recipients of the Lord's gifts, we’re to put them into use, making them even
more fruitful through practice.
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