Friday, August 15, 2014

Give Back

Luke 6:37-38—“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

When Jesus came to walk among us, He turned this world upside down.  He spent time with the unclean.  He scolded the priests.  He broke the rules by working and healing on the Sabbath.  Those around Him were amazed at His revolutionary understanding of the nature of God.  Suddenly, God was not some distant angry power that existed to punish His people; rather, He was revealed as a merciful and gracious God filled with love for His creation.  And His message is brilliant in its simplicity: love.  When we take a moment to think about it, we can see that EVERYTHING we are and have comes from God only.  We are powerless to do anything on our own, and we owe a debt of gratitude to God for all the blessings He bestows upon us. Who are we to judge or condemn someone else? What is more, when we give back to God, we give thanks and acknowledge that He is our provider.  He promises to return to us by the same measure in which we give. And that’s a nice reward, isn’t it?  But that is not really the driving force behind why we give.  We give because He first gave to us, and we honor, love, and respect Him when we offer up a portion of what He already gave.

Today, give thanks for the many blessings God has poured into your life.  Pray that you would have eyes to see the full magnitude of His love for you, even through whatever difficulties might be playing out in your life.  Honor and praise Him by making a commitment to give back to Him a portion of the blessings He has given you.

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