God as santa claus

Give out a picture:

Give out a thought: The second image that Volf uses to describes that inaccurately depicts how we view God as giver is that of Santa Claus. He writes:

And indeed, many people think of God in this way, as a Santa Claus conveniently enlarged to divine proportions. God is an infinitely rich, always available, and unfailingly generous giver - or at least, that's what we feel a god worthy of divinity ought to be. God gives without conditions or demands... A Santa Claus God demands nothing from us. A divine Santa is indiscriminately giving and inexhaustibly fertile source of everything that is, and everything that is to come our way... But is it true that God demands nothing? If it were true, how could Jesus urge us, as he does in the Sermon on the Mount, to be perfect as God is?

Give out an action: Make a list of things that you feel God has given you. It could be an ability or gift, something physical, an opportunity, a relationship, literally everything God has given you. Think through how you have used these gifts responsibly in the last 24 hours. Create opportunities to use as many of these gifts as possible in the next day.