. . . for His indescribable gift!” This tight little phrase is one of my favorites because, while it is only eight words, there are literally thousands of words that I can add to it within invisible parentheses. I always bring it out for display and meditation at this time of year. It seems like an appropriate reminder of what God has done for us, for me, through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I’d like to describe just how appropriate God’s gift of Jesus is . . . but I can’t. It’s indescribable. And this phrase is coming from a man (Paul) who wrote a good number of letters to a good number of churches, using a good number of words to do just that, describe this gift from God.
I guess that’s the mystery of it all. We can theologically explain Jesus, his birth, his life, his atonement, his resurrection, and his redemptive work for those of us who believe. But when we try to explain it personally, “giving our testimony”, we are left with the wonder of it all and it becomes indescribable. You just have to experience it to experience it! Oh, I can tell you my own story, how I came to a time and place in my life when I was drawn to Jesus personally, asking him into my life, and forgiving me of my sins. I can give you a chronology of events and the who, what and where. But to tell you what all that means (if you don’t know) is difficult. It’s an experiential thing . . . you know it but you also “know it” . . . you know? Well, you know if you have experienced a similar encounter. What is indescribable is shared through the Holy Spirit of God, heart-to-heart, life-to-life, and soul-to-soul. This is what makes being brothers and sisters in the Lord so very mystical, that what I cannot express or explain to you, you know and agree! How weird and wonderful is that?
So this is why I return to this special verse each Thanksgiving and Advent season. It brings to the forefront that I am to be thankful. Yes, thankful for all the many blessings (health, family, home, friends [one!], experiences of life, eternal perspective now and eternity later) that God has bestowed upon me in my sixty trips around the sun. But it also reminds me to be thankful to God for Jesus. And to thank Jesus for being willing to be the atoning sacrifice for me. “Thank you God for the gift of Jesus to Bill Stevens”.
This is HIGHER LEARNING at it’s fullest and finest. With all else that a Christian education does in the heart and mind of a child, it is the appreciation that it brings to these little ones that “in Christ all things hold together” and that “he has rescued us (me) from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son”. Have fun describing that!
One final thought . . . This verse ends with an exclamation point (!). It would be an interesting study of how many verses in the Scriptures end this way. I don’t think there are many. Must mean that for the apostle Paul, it was a point of real emphasis, emotion, and embracing!
May this Thanksgiving time, and our upcoming season of Advent be for you a special realization, return, or reinforcement of this truth of Scripture in your own life, along with the wonder of it as just indescribable.
THANKS BE TO GOD!!!!!!!
Bill presently serves as Headmaster of Wilmington Christian School in Hockessin, Delaware. Previous to this, he worked as an educational consultant to Christian schools in Eastern Europe and Russia. He has written numerous articles on the subject of educational philosophy and discipleship, and is a conference speaker who is passionate about the role of Christian education in the establishment of the next generation. He and his wife (“Berta”) reside in North East, MD. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren.