Unwrapping the precious gift of salvation

When I was about fifteen, the members of my church youth group each bought a Christmas gift that would be randomly given to another member. 

The wrapped box I picked contained a dark green scarf with plaid-like designs. I thought, "When am I gonna wear this thing?"

I didn’t speak, but my face betrayed me. The scarf buyer, brother Bennie, walked up and said, “Hey, if you don’t like that scarf, I’ll gladly take it off your hands, brother.” I quickly shook my head and thanked him, like a Christian boy with good sense ought to. 

At home, it went into the sock drawer and stayed there for years. Living in North Carolina, there weren’t many chances to wear a scarf. Then I moved to the mountains, and I used that scarf many times, laughing when I pulled it out each winter. Bennie had given me a gift that I didn’t know I needed. Only later did it have value to me. 

I think of Jesus Christ’s gift of salvation in the same way. Before I knew, that precious gift was already waiting. 

It is amazing to think that the Lord had it all planned before any of us was ever here. 1 Peter 1:20 talks about Christ being “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” 

God gave me a gift I didn’t know I needed, saving me from the wages of sin, which end in death and hellfire, and electing the brethren to spend eternity in His presence. Only later did it come to have value to me. Praise the Lord.