Merry Third Day of Christmas —God’s Gifts Always Fit and Get Better Over Time

Have you ever received a gift that didn’t fit? Or one whose utility didn’t last long?

God’s gifts are never like that. They are always perfectly suited to us. And rather than wearing out or losing their appeal, they get better the more we use them. These passages reflect those realities.

All the scriptural text below is from the New Jerusalem Bible. The blue scriptural citations are hyperlinks that will take you to other translations.

Matthew 9:14-17

Then John's disciples came to him and said, 'Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?' 15 Jesus replied, 'Surely the bridegroom's attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth onto an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.17 Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine in fresh skins and both are preserved.' See also Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39.

Proverbs 1:5

Let the wise listen and learn yet more

Proverbs 4:18

The path of the upright is like the light of dawn, its brightness growing to the fullness of day

Proverbs 10:17

Whoever abides by discipline, walks towards life

Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built, by understanding it is made strong; 4 by knowledge its storerooms are filled with riches of every kind, rare and desirable.

Sirach 6:18

My child, from your earliest youth choose instruction, and till your hair is white you will keep finding wisdom.

Sirach 6:27-28

Search for her, track her down: she will reveal herself; once you hold her, do not let her go. 28 For in the end you will find rest in her and she will take the form of joy for you.

Sirach 24:30-33

And I, like a conduit from a river, like a watercourse running into a garden, 31 I said, 'I am going to water my orchard, I intend to irrigate my flower beds.' And see, my conduit has grown into a river, and my river has grown into a sea. 32 Making discipline shine forth from daybreak, I shall send its light far and wide. 33 I shall pour out teaching like prophecy, as a legacy to all future generations.

Ephesians 3:16

In the abundance of his glory may he, through his Spirit, enable you to grow firm in power with regard to your inner self

Philippians 3:10-16

That I may come to know him and the power of his resurrection, and partake of his sufferings by being molded to the pattern of his death. 11 striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead.12 Not that I have secured it already, nor yet reached my goal, but I am still pursuing it in the attempt to take hold of the prize for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not reckon myself as having taken hold of it; I can only say that forgetting all that lies behind me, and straining forward to what lies in front,14 I am racing towards the finishing-point to win the prize of God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. 15 So this is the way in which all of us who are mature should be thinking, and if you are still thinking differently in any way, then God has yet to make this matter clear to you.16 Meanwhile, let us go forward from the point we have each attained.

Colossians 1:9-12

That is why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to remember you in our prayers and ask that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will 10 and so be able to lead a life worthy of the Lord, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowledge of God, 11 fortified, in accordance with his glorious strength, with all power always to persevere and endure, 12 giving thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God's holy people and with them to inherit the light.

Colossians 3:10

Put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its Creator

2 Peter 1:5-8
With this in view, do your utmost to support your faith with goodness, goodness with understanding, 6understanding with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with devotion, 7 devotion with kindness to the brothers, and kindness to the brothers with love. 8 The possession and growth of these qualities will prevent your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ from being ineffectual or unproductive.