After picking fresh blueberries this week, I decided today to use some to make homemade waffles. My sweet granddaughters and I enjoyed pulling out the Charlie Brown & Snoopy Waffle Maker box and preparing waffles in the shapes of Peanuts characters. Food always seems to taste better when it’s fun to prepare and when it looks appealing!
The waffle maker brought back a memory from a few years ago. I had received an unexpected package in the mail and remember wondering what it could be. Upon opening the box, I was surprised by the gift of the waffle maker. It was a thoughtful and kind gesture from a young man who had become a special friend to our family. He knew that I was a big fan of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts characters, so he’d taken the time to shop for a gift that he knew I’d enjoy and that I would put to use.
Not only do we like the Peanuts characters, but our family likes homemade waffles too! It’s a special gift for those reasons, but is also special in a way that our friend probably doesn’t even realize…each time it is used it reminds us of the special young man who God brought into our lives. A young man who, even though from another country and another culture, and who speaks Chinese as his primary language, has crossed those barriers and shared the blessing of his life and his family with ours. Why? To build friendships, to show love and kindness to us.
God did that, and so much more for us. He crossed barriers to reach us. He left his sinless heavenly home to enter this sin-filled earth so that a bridge could be made. A bridge that was built with the cross of Christ. On the cross, Christ, once and for all, removed the barrier between God and sinful man. He made it possible for man to have a relationship with God. A possibility, a choice, made available to man from a holy and loving God. Through grace, He has provided this gift to all, to any who will receive. It is the will of God that none should perish, but that all should come to Him in repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Will you receive the gift that He is offering you today?
HOPE NUGGET: But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
Hanging My Hat on Hope 