Saturday I started the 12 Days of Christmas post series based on a book called The Real 12 Days of Christmas by Helen Haidle. You can read the introduction about it and the first 6 days here.
"On the seventh day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me...seven swans a swimming..."
On this day, the seven gifts from God to His people are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:6-8):
"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."
The neat thing about it is that the life of the swan represents the growth of Christian. In her book entitled The Real 12 Days of Christmas, Helen Haidle says
"Just as baby swans grow and change from "ugly ducklings" into beautiful and graceful birds, so do God's children grow and change through the work of the Holy Spirit. The various gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed for the benefit of the entire body of Christ."
Baby swans, known as cygnets, are sometimes compared to a cute little duckling and found in wanting. They are awkward, disproportionate, and a little silly looking.
Awkward, but adorable little duckling, uh, I mean cygnet
Can you remember when you were saved? I can. And I remember being very awkward in my walk. I stumbled a lot, made a lot of clumsy mistakes, and sometimes even acted a little silly about things that I knew weren't "right," but I didn't have a mature understanding on how to deal with such things.
As the Holy Spirit has seasoned me and taught me how to exercise the gifts He's given me, I begin to develop. I start to see changes, inside my heart and outside in my behavior. Sometimes I still feel like I'm an adolescent in the Lord, but I know I'm growing, changing, maturing. And He's making me to look more like Him in the end.
4 comments:
I am hopeful that now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over I can begin to get my life back to some kind of normal. I have missed making the round to all my fav blog.
Loved this analogy of the swan. God is so great in how he moves us along in our faith journey, sometimes he gives us a gentle push and other time a hard shove but it is always just right!
Blessings
Robin
I have really enjoyed your comments over that last few post.
Thanks for your thoughts!
This book sounds very interesting! I stumbled upon your blog by clicking on one of your comments somewhere else. I love it, and plan on reading your future posts! It is so special to meet fellow bloggers that write about Jesus! Have a good day!
I love the comparison to the swan! I'm not quite sold on the idea of 7 spiritual gifts since 9 are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, unless it's only supposed to refer to the ones mentioned in Romans. I will have to give this one some thought.
Looking forward to the rest!
Edie, that's a good point. I don't think the meanings behind these gifts are necessarily meant to be exhaustive; I believe it was meant as a teaching tool for children and possibly for unbelievers. So it may well only be referring to the one Scripture rather than all Scriptures pertaining to the gifts.
As always, I appreciate your discerning mind and your thought-provoking discussions!
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