The Gift // James 1:17

James 1:17 (NLT) | Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

When was the last time someone gave you an awesome gift? What made it so special to you? Was it the gift itself? The thought that went into it? The thought of you to begin with? What? I am thinking about a gift that might have seemed obscure at the time, or a sweet gesture, that turned out to be just what I needed at the time I needed it. And when I say, need, I don’t necessarily mean it was something essential, but the timing sure was.

Today’s verse, as you see in the graphic for today, tells us that God is the One who gives all good gifts. I wanted to expand on that verse, though, because we see that God made the lights in heaven, never changes, and doesn’t cast a shifting shadow. That doesn’t mean we don’t experience shadows in this world, but what it does mean is the light doesn’t move, only the objects that cast the shadows. The best way to manage life’s shadows is to do our best to stay as close to God as possible so any shadow falls behind and not between. That isn’t always possible, so the gift — God’s presence in, with, and for us in Christ — serves to remind us that when we encounter shadows, all we need to do it turn to the light…or, in this sense, The Light!