A VERY SPECIAL GIFT—THE HOLY DAY

J. Grant Swank, Jr.


The good God said one day, "I want to give my children a very special gift. It will help them, refresh them, make them happy, lift their burdens and give them a new turn on life."


So the good God set about to craft it. He was thinking of His children's good. He always is.


Even when the good God set before His children a commandment or two, it was always for their good. They did not always get that message. Nevertheless, when they did get that truth, they were set free.


So it was with this very special gift from the good God.


"I want them to put down their weights. I want them to unwind. I want them to go run in the meadows, jump across streams, forget their toil. I want them to be holy, yes, but I want them to understand more than anything else how such holiness unfolds happiness."


This good God timed His gift so that it would keep returning over and over again, never stopping, as long as earth spun upon its axis. How good of the good God! How pouring-out in His fatherly love for The Precious.


"This gift will long be remembered. Oh, how it makes my own heart glad to offer this present to my redeemed ones.


"Those who have rejected me cannot understand the worth of this gift. But surely my own dear ones will treasure it, hold it delicately and never neglect it. Oh, how it makes my own heart glad!"


How grateful would be the children of the good God. They had such an insightful Parent--looking out for their every benefit.


"I want even their children to inherit this gift. I want all generations to revel in its joy and gladness. How I want the whole world to receive this present. But I know that the whole world will not take to its value.


"Therefore, I must count on my children. I simply must. They surely will hold this jewel to their hearts. Yes, they will will it to THEIR offspring. And so its meaning will bead itself down through centuries of laughter and thanksgiving."


With this, the good God planned it. Is it not always more blessed to give than to receive? So it is with the One who wrote that postulate into being's fabric. HE was almost beside Himself with such holy hilarity.


Recall how you, parents, prepare those dazzling prizes for your own children? You ponder. You purchase. You wrap. You tie the bows. Then you can hardly wait for The Moment!


So it was with the good God.


"This will calm their nerves in rest. My gift will bind their wounds. This present will return them to my love, to worship me fully, to adore my holiness, to share my gift with other redeemed sons and daughters. This gift will draw their families closer. This gift will show to the world that these offspring are different because of their beauty."


The good God, being Creator of His children, knew truly what they needed to make it through each rough-and-tumble week. He knew that they would need to drop everything--hear His music, paint the sky, romp the fields and take in lazy hills. How they would need it!


With that gift, they would enter the very holy of holies, lay their eyes upon His mercy seat, cleanse their souls afresh in shekinah glory, marvel at the cherubim's wings. They would light their lives from golden lampstands, nourish at the shewbread table and mix their thanksgivings with incense from His sanctified altar.


So it was that His smile filled up the all of heaven. Then it was that that smile dipped down to planet earth as the good God lifted high His holy gift for every angel to see!


Think of it: to be the child of such a benevolent Father! So sad for those who cared not for the Father, those twisted in their trenches, vagabonds of their own shriveled spheres, crippling through.


Yet to be the graced child of such a sensitive One! What utter security when leaning upon His sure shoulder.


This Father actually meant for His birthed to pace life in peace. Knowing that His planet had fallen into unbelievable tension, the good God gifted His children with His own unique respite from staccatoed stress.


That very special--holy--gift!


Ah, now was The Moment. Offer it, then, good God. Your offspring of mercy are waiting anxiously. They will surely take hold of it in cascading praise--forever!


As eternity held its breath and nary an angel whispered a sigh, into the hands of His own He gently laid that shining treasure--His Day of Rest.