The Feast of Pentecost, Jesus, and a Few Words about Reciprocation.

I love the Scripture. I love unraveling the mysteries hidden in the pages. I love the stories of the Patriarchs, the sinners, and the Saints. I read them over and over again, day after day, year after year, and they never get old. I don't know exactly when it became alive to me. I have been reading the Bible my whole life, but it was pretty much a desert to me. Bone dry. Then one day I began to read about David and all of a sudden he jumped off the page and became someone very real to me. It all began to make sense. The old and the new Testaments began to interact, the more I read. They intertwined in a way I had never understood before and I was hooked.
Since that time I have begun to gather little nuggets of understanding about some things. I'm pretty sure they aren't new to Christianity, but they are new to me. Little snatches of revelation come and take my breath away. Yesterday I was reading a little blurb written by Jews For Jesus about the Feast of Pentecost. Also called The Feast of Weeks. Or Shavuot. Originally this feast was all about the Jewish people bringing the first fruit of their harvest to the temple to give to the Lord as He had commanded them to, through Moses, while they were on that 40 year hike through the desert.
Eventually, in captivity, they weren't able to bring harvest anymore, and it became more about commemorating the giving of the law by Moses. And then, during the Feast of Pentecost, or Shavout, came Pentecost. The Pentecost. The disciples have been gathered together for many days, and they have been fervently praying. Then comes the rushing wind and the tongues of fire and the world has never been the same.
One of the things the Jews for Jesus article mentioned, that stuck with me, was that The Feast of Pentecost was one of three yearly feasts in which the Jewish males were required to show themselves at the temple. They were required to come to God for The Feast of the Unleavened Bread, or Passover, the Feast of Booths, and the Feast of Pentecost. As I read that, something was ringing in my brain. That usually means, Wait! Think about this! I have something to show you! (From the Lord.)
So I thought about it. And I realized this. God required His people to come to Him. However, in the lifetime of Jesus, during each of those  three feasts, He came to them! To us! He was born during the Feast of Booths.  He came humbly, riding on a Donkey and gave his life for us at Passover. His Spirit came to us at Pentecost.
Our God is a reciprocating God. We give our hearts, he extends his Spirit. We give our devotion, he gives us wisdom. We give Him our lives and we get to live in His house forever. But the truth is, it isn't a true reciprocation, because God gives us far more than we give him. We might extend a pinkie to him and he embraces us in a great big bear hug and takes us in as His long lost sons and gives us the Kingdom. He asks his people to come to the temple and in return he gives them (and now us) Jesus, who is The first born  of Creation (Colossians 1 vs 15) And through Jesus, God has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. (Colossians 1 vs 13.) I would say that was an over the top example of his generosity of to us. And the best part is, that this Jesus, who is the exact likeness of God, who has all this power and dominion, and love for us, never leaves. His Spirit, sent on that long ago Pentecost day, is forever with us, guiding, giving us wisdom. Keeping us from self inflicted disaster, if we but listen. Walking with us when times are tough. Protecting, teaching, exhorting, and even laughing and rejoicing with us when things are good. When God gave us Jesus, he gave us a friend for eternity. To have a friend like that is not something I can describe, there just aren't words to convey the comfort felt by the companionship of the Holy Spirit. I gave him my little bitty old stony heart and He gave me Heaven. I almost can't fathom why He would make such a deal. He must really love me.