Free Stuff
I love free stuff. I don’t know why really, but I know I’m not the only one. Marketing through giveaways is a very popular and very effective tool. The funny thing about it is that, by and large, the free stuff we get in society has two major characteristics: It’s generally never free and it’s generally never of very great value.
There is a gift that’s truly free, that is Jesus. The only requirement is that you take it. No strings attached, the doorway to God and all He offers requires nothing other than you accepting it. Notice I said, doorway. There are a few big misunderstandings about this Gift. Firstly, Jesus is the open door to God. He is the bridge. He is the way. That does not mean that acceptance of the gift is the end all, be all. This leads to the second misunderstanding. There is much more to the gift than receiving it one time. There is the using of the gift.
Along with free stuff, I also love coffee. Imagine someone gave me a magical coffee maker that made the best tasting and freshest cup of coffee imaginable and that I could take it anywhere and use it as much as I wanted. They would have truly given me a wonderful gift! Now, let’s say I just put it in the cupboard and forgot about it or used only on occasion. Though I had the access and the ability for the best cup of coffee, if I didn’t utilize it, I wouldn’t benefit from it. If I don’t take it out, plug it in and operate it the way it was intended but instead go to the local convenience store and buy old burnt nasty coffee, how could I ever rightfully complain? Would I be right to email the Heaven Sent Perfect Coffee Maker maker stating that though I have their perfect coffee maker, I’m still drinking terrible coffee? Ridiculous, right? Yet this is exactly what people do with God’s most perfect gift.
See the first thing a believer needs to realize is that what Jesus did was so much more than what people think. In John 10:10 Jesus tells us, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” One of the number one ways the thief (that’s the devil) steals is that he convinces people of the opposite of the Truth. Because he operates in the realm of thoughts, people automatically assume that what they’ve thought is good. Instead of lining it up with the Word of God, they swallow the lie hook, line, and sinker! The devil has stolen the Word before it ever produces life!
Actually, in reality, most times he never has to steal because people hand it over willingly. It will never make sense to me how people will receive a lie from the devil, yet having God’s Word written and before them, they’ll willfully reject it. This is why God’s people go without. It’s not because He doesn’t want them to have it, but because they refuse it.
God wants His people blessed. You cannot read the Word in context and ever come to any other conclusion. You also cannot separate our role in bringing His will to pass. We were never exempt in the operation of the blessing but rather, overwhelmingly required to participate. From Genesis to Revelation, humans always have had their part to play. First we receive, then we do. It’s the way our Maker made us.
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
