Looking for that perfect gift for someone on your shopping list?  Allow me to suggest a gift-giving idea that won't cost you a penny!  Take a stroll with me to the bedside of a dying father in the Old Testament by the name of Isaac as he was about to give this free gift to his oldest son, Esau.

The name of the gift?  The Blessing.

In keeping with the custom of the day, parents in the Old Testament set aside a special day to give The Blessing.  On this special day when The Blessing was given, the parent spoke words of:

• Love
• High Value
• Acceptance
• and words that Painted a Bright Future into their child's life.

Esau had been summoned to his dying father's bedside to receive The Blessing from his father.  However, his brother Jacob had deceived their father into believing that he was Esau, and Isaac had already given The Blessing to Jacob.  Unfortunately, custom also said that once the blessing was given, it could not be revoked - - it stood that Jacob should keep the blessing that was intended for Esau.

When Esau realized that Jacob had received The Blessing he should have gotten, he cried out:  "Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?  Oh my father, bless me too!"

Can't you just feel the anguish Esau must have felt:

• "Please bless me, too!"
• "I want to know you love me "
• "I want to know you value me!'
• "I want to know you accept me!"
• "Tell me that I have potential with a bright future!"

I submit to you that that same cry and unfulfilled longing is still being heard by people that you may be rubbing shoulders with everyday:  your family, friends, church members, neighbors.  Many are crying out as Esau did:  "Do you have one blessing for me?"

Why not give someone on your Christmas list The Blessing.  "It is the Perfect Gift."

** For ways to implement this gift, you might want to buy the book, The Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent.

Merry Christmas