THE MOST EXPENSIVE GIFT

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life" John 3:16

While on my way home on the eve of Valentine’s day some years ago, I stopped by at a shopping mall to pick up a Valentine gift for my wife. The shopping mall was gorgeously arranged and stocked with a lot of beautiful gifts, red hearts, chocolates, flowers, perfumes, and all kinds of lovely gifts with the inscription: "You're beautiful and I love you." The gift I chose was really beautiful but the price was far above what I had planned for. As I considered the exorbitant price again, the DNA of an Accountant in me started manifesting violently with strong justifications why a relatively cheaper gift would have been good for the occasion. I was about buying the cheap gift when I remembered the statement below:

"Marriage is like a bank account. It is what you deposit into your bank account that you can withdraw. If you don't deposit love, peace and care into your marriage, you are not a candidate of a blissful home. There is no free love in marriage; you cannot love without giving and sacrificing"(Unknown)

The depth of our love is a function of what we are willing to give or sacrifice for the fellow we claim to love. A genuine love will make anyone to be ready to spend and be spent. That was exactly what God demonstrated in John 3:16. God made it very clear that true love is actually not cheap at all. True love cost God the most expensive gift in the shopping mall of heaven. Love made God to pay for the sins of man with the precious blood of his only begotten Son. Obviously, that is the most expensive and greatest gift of all times.

Beloved, love is all about giving and sacrificing. If you are married, then everyday should be Valentine's day in your home. You should always look out for the opportunity to make some deposits of love in your marital bank account. You may never know when you will need to make withdrawal from those deposits in future. So, please go ahead and put a smile on the face of that special person in your life this week. However, nobody can truly give or love without having encounter with the greatest giver and lover of all times (1 John 4:8-9).

Friends, please reciprocate this greatest gift of love by giving God the most expensive gift in your life's shopping mall- your soul. During this Valentine's week, with or without those beautiful red hearts, chocolates, flowers, or greeting cards, I urge you to please fall in love with real/true love (God). Please make God's only begotten son - Jesus Christ your Val by starting a genuine love relationship with Him and you will enter an unending realm of grace and glory.

One special song that describes the most expensive gift to humanity is titled "Wonderful Story of Love":

WONDERFUL STORY OF LOVE by J.M Driver, 1892

Wonderful story of love;

Tell it to me again;

Wonderful story of love;

Wake the immortal strain!

Angels with rapture announce it,

Shepherds with wonder receive it;

Sinner, oh, won’t you believe it?

Wonderful story of love.

Refrain:

       Wonderful! Wonderful!

       Wonderful, wonderful story of love.

Wonderful story of love;

Though you are far away;

Wonderful story of love;

Still He doth call today;

Calling from Calvary’s mountain,

Down from the crystal-bright fountain,

E’en from the dawn of creation,

Wonderful story of love.

Wonderful story of love;

Jesus provides a rest;

Wonderful story of love;

For all the pure and blest,

Rest in those mansions above us,

With those who’ve gone on before us,

Singing the rapturous chorus,

Wonderful story of love.

May the powerful chorus of God’s love oozing from Calvary Mountain pierce through the heart of our youths and make them know that fornication is not Valentine's gift but a terrible sin. 

Good day and God bless you

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

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