Do you expect gifts to be labeled to identify the recipient? This makes it clear who the gift is intended for. Yet there is a type of gift that is not meant for the one receiving it. Does this seem like a riddle and a paradox and a mystery to you? The gifts that I give do not come wrapped in colored paper. They come wrapped in people like you, for I have not neglected anyone. Yet I didn’t give your gift to you for your own consumption. Have you met people who bestow all that I have given them on themselves? Is there anything less attractive?

Have you heard of the practice of church hopping? In some circles it is considered an act of betrayal to change affiliation from one church to another, and within these circles the length of tenure at a particular church is regarded as a measure of spiritual maturity. Can there be valid reasons for changing church affiliation? Yes, but the motive makes a difference. The term church hopping implies that those who leave are offended and disgruntled, and you have seen this happen. They go from church to church unaware that they are taking their problems with them.

Do you resent your need for sleep? Have you ever thought about how much more you could accomplish if you didn’t require it? If you didn’t get any sleep, you wouldn’t accomplish very much, and would not survive for long. Not everything that is necessary for your life can be captured on your ‘to-do’ list. Much takes place while you are asleep even if you are unaware of it, and these things are restorative. Sleep is essential for your body, mind, and spirit. Don’t you feel refreshed after a good night’s sleep? Medical science can describe the ways your body and mind are restored.

I said  that John the Baptist was a  prophet, and others said the same of me. Both of us operated outside of the structure and organization of the established faith practice. You see the same principle in effect through the Old Testament as well. Prophets were not priests or kings who had title and office. They were all voices crying in the wilderness, yet called and commissioned by God to bring necessary words of correction that they would not have been able to deliver from within the organization. The need for this ministry has not gone away. Who do you think of as a prophet today?