When the Gift You Didn't Ask For Changes Everything

You know that moment when someone gives you something you didn't ask for, and you're trying to figure out if you have to pretend to like it?

That's kind of how the early disciples felt when Jesus kept saying things like "I'm leaving, but don't worry, I'll send you something better."

Better than Jesus? What could possibly be better than the guy who just fed 5,000 people with a kid's lunch and walked on water?

But here's the thing. Jesus wasn't talking about a consolation prize. He was pointing to something that wouldn't be limited by a single body in one location at one point in history. We've got this weird thing where we read about Jesus healing people and think, "Well, that was nice for them. Too bad that ship sailed 2,000 years ago."

But the Bible Lesson this week keeps hammering on this idea: the Christ that showed up in Jesus wasn't Jesus-exclusive. It was (and is) the eternal expression of divine Love, showing up to prove that Spirit is primary and matter follows consciousness.

Mary understood something radical when she conceived Jesus. Not the mechanics (that part is genuinely mysterious), but the spiritual principle: purity reflects Truth and Love. She wasn't special because she was magic. She was receptive because she understood what was already true.

The Wisemen followed a star because they were looking for spiritual light in the darkness. They didn't create the light. They just had eyes to see it.

The lesson points out that in 1866, Mary Baker Eddy discovered (or maybe re-discovered) this same Christ-principle. Not as a belief system. As a demonstrable Science. She was basically dying when she had this revelation: "All real being is in God, the divine Mind, and Life, Truth, and Love are all-powerful and ever-present."

That's not churchy talk. That's someone who looked at what seemed like the end and saw through to what was actually true.

And here's the kicker: she called it Christian Science not because she wanted to start a religion, but because she'd found the operating system that makes Christianity actually work. The same power that healed through Jesus could heal through anyone who understood how consciousness works.

Look, I get it. The idea that you could access divine power right now? That sounds either arrogant or delusional.

But what if it's neither? What if Jesus was showing us our native operating system, not his unique superpower?

Think about it. Jesus kept saying "you'll do greater works than these." He wasn't talking to special people. He was talking to regular humans who kept missing the point, falling asleep during prayer, and arguing about who got to sit next to him in heaven.

If they could get it, maybe we can too.

The priceless gift isn't a theology or a technique. It's the recognition that the same Christ that showed up in Jesus is available to you right now. Not after you become holier. Not when you finally figure everything out. Now.

The kingdom of heaven Jesus kept talking about? It's not a place you go when you die if you behave. It's a way of seeing that transforms everything while you're still walking around in your messy, beautiful human life.

Your Turn

What if the gift you've been looking for has been sitting right here the whole time, just waiting for you to stop performing and start recognizing?

What would change if you believed that spiritual power wasn't something to earn but something to acknowledge?