A Priceless Gift

It was a long day with ministering to three different families who had loved ones die in addition to other pastoral duties. At the end of my last Wednesday night in Paradise many stayed behind afterward to talk with me and pray for me. Our Sunday School provided a fajita dinner in our honor after church. I no more than walked in the room when I spotted them.
There were some packages wrapped in colored paper with ribbons around them. Brenda and I do not enjoy being made the center of attention much less being given gifts. I forgot about them as we shared a meal with friends. We laughed, reminisced, feasted, and joked around. It was a great night with great friends eating great food.
This class was birthed from about five people two years ago. Some said the class would never get off the ground but Brenda and I felt called to lead it and grow it. In two years the class has swelled to an average of about twenty and on one occasion we pushed fifty. Many times we have twenty-five to thirty people present. We have moved rooms on three different occasions. We have spent the last two years getting more connected to God and to each other, hence the name “Connections Class.” We really bonded and our classes were filled with raucous laughter and then tears as we searched and studied the scriptures. We were nicknamed the “party class” and on more than one occasion we had other classes knock on the wall to get us to settle down. We had a good time together. We served together, fellowshipped together, and sacrificed together to meet one another’s needs. I was there for the birth of babies. I baptized several in that class. We came together. On this might we were being loud and laughter echoed as usual throughout the fellowship hall.
Suddenly the jovial mood turned much more serious and out of the corner of my eye I saw our children’s minister make her way to the front of the room and another lady make her way to the gifts. I dreaded what was to come. Many kind words were shared about us and the time we had enjoyed together. The laughter came to an abrupt halt and tears began to flow.
Next, Brenda and I were handed the gifts and instructed to open them while everyone was looking on. I have never enjoyed doing this whether it is at birthdays or at Christmas. I never want to appear ungrateful or like I am putting on an act and am insincere. I started pulling off the green ribbon followed by the black and green wrapping paper. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the color red on a box and my heart began to beat faster. I nervously peeled back another corner speculating what the contents of the box was and I sat in stunned silence while I held a priceless gift from a class of people I love.
Lying in my hands was a white and red box holding a new English Standard Version study Bible. I had wanted one for a long time but never made it a priority. It is the most accurate English translation of the Bible in comparison to the original Hebrew and Greek languages. I could not believe it! I opened the box and was stunned again. The class did not rally together to buy me the hardback and cheapest version of that Bible. They bought me a genuine black leather calf skin edition which has a lifetime guarantee. The leather was so soft to my fingers I thought it might tear. I had no words. I mean it. No words came to mind or seemed to suffice to express what I was thinking.
The class members encouraged me to open to the inside of the Bible to see what they had written in it. It was presented to me from the “Connections Class”. When I looked at the top of the page they had written [Matt 16:24] “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up His cross, and follow Me.” When I saw that scripture reference and knew that it was in large part because of that verse and the promise I made to God years ago to follow Him anywhere and to do anything He asked me to do that was leading my family away from that class and to a new ministry in Seminole. The tears formed and began to stream.
I just sat there misty eyed, silent, and overwhelmed at the love and generosity of those young couples. Never in my life have I received a more precious or priceless gift. As I sat in that chair with everyone staring at me I could only think of the hours I would pour over the scriptures, study notes, and receive new revelation from God as well preach from it. It was a pretty overwhelming experience for me.
This morning I got up early and took that Bible out of the box. I carefully turned the pages until I got to the book of Matthew and found my way to the twenty second chapter where I ended my reading yesterday and began reading having my first quiet time out one of the greatest study Bibles and most accurate translations ever created. That gift means more to me than I could ever put into words. It was given sacrificially but unlike some gifts that are given and soon discarded, this gift will be a part of my daily life. It will enhance my ministry, and be used of God to not only draw me closer to Him personally but also to inspire others to draw closer to the Lord as well.
It is a priceless gift that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I will study it, memorize it, preach it, teach it, read it, and seek to live it. No gift that has ever been given to me means anymore to me than that Bible. On my last Sunday here in Paradise I will teach the Connections class one last time and preach to the flock of Paradise one last time from that Bible. I have been a blessed man and, out of the things I truly treasure in this world in the form of earthly possessions, that Bible just soared near the top of the list. What a priceless gift. Thank you connections class. Eternity will reveal what that priceless meant to me and to the kingdom of God!