I celebrated my birthday recently and I received several emails from restaurants gifting me with a free dessert or some other promotion.  Each ‘free’ gift comes with an expiration date and the stipulation that the ‘free’ gift is only valid if I purchase something.  Though a nice gesture, it is really not a gift.

A gift is something you give without the expectation of something in return.  The gifts I received from my family and friends don’t have strings attached.  They were given out of love.  No one said, “hey, I’m giving you this box of chocolates and you must eat them right now and share them with everyone.”  I could choose to do this, but it wasn’t a requirement of accepting the gift.

I did receive a gift card which I will need to redeem.  I get to exchange the gift the card for something I want or need that will make my life a little happier.  The giver of the gift card specifically chose a store where they know I like to shop.  They want me to be able to choose something I will love and will make me happy.

I think the intention of the gift card is the same as the emails I got from restaurants, just without the marketing gimmick to lure me into visit their restaurant and spend more money.  The giver of the gift’s want to give me pleasure.

This is also true of the gift of redemption Jesus gave to the world when he died on the cross.  He gave the gift and wants each person to redeem the gift in exchange for an abundant life.  No expiration dates.  No strings attached.  Jesus redeems all people, regardless if they acknowledge him or not.

The song Redeemed by the Christian Group Mercy Me helps to explain this.  It says, God sees us as holy and righteous because Jesus redeemed us but we see ourselves as our mistakes.  God says, look past your faults, your shame and your fears.  Don’t judge yourself or others for failures because God has redeemed you.  Your earthy views have been exchanged for the views of God.

It can be difficult to tune out the negative voices in our heads.  You know the voices that say you can’t do anything right and you always or never, fill in the blank?  Well, I know the voices and I can spin out of control quickly into a negative spiral.  It doesn’t even have to be anything significant that sets me off.  It can be something as simple as stubbing my toe which is truly an accident but it can start my laundry list of things I’m not good at or things I’ve done wrong.

In the Mercy Me song, they say, collect all those things you think are wrong and bring them to God.  Take your fears and your pain and your doubt to God and like the gift card I received for my birthday, exchange them for something that will bring pleasure and happiness to your life.

But also like the gift card, if I don’t ever take it to the store and use it, I won’t reap the benefits of redeeming the gift.  Jesus has given the gift and now it is up to us to exchange the gift so we can enjoy the benefits.  It is written in scripture, John 10:10 that Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”  It’s time to exchange the gift card!