Unwrapping What You’ve Already Been Given
The Gift Isn’t The Point – Blog Series Part 2
If the gift isn’t the point…
and the Giver is…
then we have to ask an honest question:
What happens after salvation?
For many of us, salvation became a moment…
not a lifestyle.
We remember the day.
The prayer.
The altar, the camp, the conference, the conversation.
And then life happened.
Responsibilities happened.
Disappointments happened.
Church hurt happened.
Exhaustion happened.
And without realizing it, the gift we once held close
got placed on a shelf.
Still respected.
Still acknowledged.
Still technically ours.
But no longer engaged.
Salvation became something we believed in…
not something we lived from.
Salvation was never meant to be a shelf decoration.
It was meant to be opened…
again…
and again…
and again.
Scripture says that when we come to Christ, we become a new creation. Not just forgiven… but made new. That means something is constantly unfolding.
I love the image of nesting dolls.
You open one… and there’s another inside.
And another.
And another.
Salvation is like that.
Forgiveness is the first layer.
Inside forgiveness is freedom.
Inside freedom is healing.
Inside healing is trust.
Inside trust is obedience.
Inside obedience is fruit.
And if you stop opening…
you stop discovering.
The tragedy isn’t that God stopped giving.
It’s that we stopped expecting more.
Some of us stopped unwrapping because we were disappointed.
We asked God for something and it didn’t come the way we hoped.
We stepped out once and it hurt.
We trusted someone and it cost us.
So we said, “I’m saved… and that’s enough.”
And listen… salvation is enough for eternity.
But God didn’t save you just for someday.
He saved you for today.
Jesus didn’t say, “I came so you could survive.”
He said, “I came that you might have life… and have it abundantly.”
Abundant life doesn’t come from a box on a shelf.
It comes from relationship.
From surrender.
From daily opening what He’s already given.
Some of you once prayed differently.
Worshiped differently.
Trusted God more boldly.
But somewhere along the way…
you packed it up.
Not because you stopped believing…
but because you got tired.
You didn’t throw the gift away.
You just set it down.
Salvation isn’t a finish line.
It’s a starting point.
And there is more inside what you already have than you realize.
The question isn’t, Has God given me anything?
The question is…
Have I kept opening it?
Because unopened gifts don’t lose their value…
but they never change anyone’s life.
Read This Series:
