You are sitting around the room at those fun and obligatory gift exchange parties. There’s a coveted gift (you know, the person that spent way over their $10.00 budget) that everyone is fighting over. Your fellow competitive gift exchange buddy keeps stealing it back from everyone.
Been there?
I think we all have.
Why am I writing about this?
Just earlier today I was thinking about the song by Elevation Worship – Oh Come To The Altar, and specifically the line in the song that says this:
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
Think about that for a minute. I picture myself coming to the altar, giving Jesus my box of sorrows, worries, regrets, burdens, besetting sin, and handing it to Jesus in exchange for the gift He hands me:
A beautifully wrapped box, labeled: JOY
Unlike the coveted cherry oak wooded cheese and cracker tray at your next Christmas gift exchange, God, our Eternal Heavenly Father, wants to exchange our overlooked box of shame, for His irreplaceable, priceless box of joy. The price He paid was Jesus’s precious blood on the cross.
He’s willing to make the exchange. Are you?
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.
I love this!