A Gift Worth Giving

What can or should we expect from God? What does he expect from us?

What comes to mind first for many people is the idea that we should become sinless. While it's true that once we've been born again—once we've accepted God's pardon for both our sins and for being sinners—we should sin less. But it is not true that we can become sinless. Despite Scriptures that at a glance suggest otherwise.

The Bible tells us that we should be like him. That we are new creatures in Christ. That we can do all things through him. But to twist these and other verses to mean that we can achieve perfection means we've fallen into a trap set to snare us.

Our adversary would have us continually focused on ourselves rather than God. He wishes us to view life as a negative, never developing the positive.

Not so with God. Therefore, it may be easier to answer the opposite of those questions. What doesn't God expect?

He doesn't expect perfection, sinlessness. But he does expect holiness. But how does the unholy become holy? How does the unclean become clean? In the same way dishes become useable and useful.

Like dirty cups we become vessels of honor by being washed. And since it is clear that dishes cannot wash themselves, we must allow God to do what only he can do.

Our task, then, is to present ourselves to him continually so that he may cleanse us. And in gratitude we ought to serve him.

Not only during the Christmas season or at Easter or during other High Holy days, but every day, each day, we should give him what we have, what he wants most—ourselves. That is the gift he desires. And if we give him what he wants, he will give us what we need.

Gratitude In the Midst of Blessings

We often overlook our need for gratitude in the midst of blessings. And that’s the problem.

When life is good we tend to forget where blessings come from. When we are healthy we are less aware that God is our healer. When we are wealthy, however we might measure that, we may not remember that God is our provider. At times we suppose ourselves to be wise, and fail to credit the one who gives wisdom without embarrassing us. At times we imagine we can do anything, but don’t rely on the one who said through him we can. When we are young, we often look to the future. When we are old, we tend to gaze at the past. In both seasons, we easily forget that God is with us today. When our lives are blessed we sometimes forget to thank the one from whom all blessings flow.

An old hymn urges each of us to “count your blessings, name them one by one.” I suppose that such an exercise is intended to cause a shift in our focus.

The Apostle John wrote that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.”[1] The emphasis is not that we should recite all that God has done for us, but that we ought to remember who God is. We should know that his nature and character never shift. Never vary. Never move. Never change. The image invokes a term from astronomy, the parallax. It pertains to the apparent movement of the stars. We know that stars don’t move; we do. In the same way, we need to be mindful that God doesn’t change. That’s why we can depend on him, even in the best of times.

In those times when our lives, our activities, our pursuits are blessed and we receive so many blessings that our cups overflow, we need to understand why. We’re blessed, not because we won a heavenly lottery, but because God is good. He always has our best interest at heart. He’s not capricious. He loves us. Not because of what we’ve done, but because we are his children.

As such, we receive more than his blessings. He gives us his blessing. Something we should treasure. Something we should never trade for anything. Unlike Esau.

You may remember his story in Genesis 25:29–34. Esau returns famished. Jacob knew he would be. Esau asks for food. Jacob demands a price. Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of beans. One moment he’s ungrateful. The next he’s not blessed.

We have an inheritance. God has given us his blessings and his blessing.

If that doesn’t make us holy, I don’t know what does.

And if that doesn’t make us grateful, I don’t know what will.

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[1] James 1:17 (ASV)

Gratitude In the Midst of Trials

While we may more readily recognize our need for gratitude in the midst of trials, it’s not easy to be grateful in the midst of a storm. Sometimes despite God’s presence we doubt his promises. And we forget his faithfulness.

That tends to make us ungrateful, unthankful, unholy.

How then does holiness relate to thanksgiving? To our giving thanks? Does gratitude sanctify us? Maybe, maybe not. But it seems certain that however it happens, when we are grateful, something changes. At least that’s what happened for the tenth leper.

As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" He looked at them and said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, their leprosy disappeared. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, "Praise God, I'm healed!" He fell face down on the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?" And Jesus said to the man, "Stand up and go. Your faith has made you well."[1]

Nine were healed, only one was made whole. Nine were clean, only one became holy. And he was a foreigner, but not a stranger.

Look closely at those ten men. They had little for which to be thankful. Homeless. Jobless. With no certain future except death. And then they meet Jesus. He heals them. They go their way. The leprosy, often viewed as a judgment of God against sins, disappears. They’re forgiven.

But only one obeys Jesus. He returns to show himself to the High Priest of Heaven. Because he understands that if a man can heal leprosy, he’s not a man at all. Because only God can forgive sins.

That’s why the former leper did what everyone should do when they realize what God has done for them. He “fell face down on the ground.” Other translations say that he worshipped Jesus.

A Samaritan worshipping a Jew. And the Great Physician marvels. Then he commands. “Stand up.” And commissions. “Go.” And proclaims. “Your faith has made you well.”

Another version translates the Greek word at the end of that sentence as “whole.” It’s one thing to be healed. It’s another to be healthy. Wholly holy. Saved.

Saved from what? The penalty, the power, and the presence of sin.

If that doesn’t make us holy, I don’t know what does.

And if that doesn’t make us grateful, even in the midst of a storm, I don’t know what will.

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[1] Luke 17:11–19 (nlt)

He Sleeps is Storms

In Have a Little Faith, author Mitch Albom relates a story his rabbi once told.

A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, “He sleeps in a storm.”

The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man.

Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the midst of the night, a powerful storm rips through the valley.

Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly.

So, he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed.

He runs out to the field. He sees the bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped with tarpaulins.

He races to the silo. The doors are latched and the grain is dry.

And then he understands. “He sleeps in a storm.”

We need to understand what the farmer did. We need to know what the disciples learned. And we need to do what Jesus did.

But what did he do? What allows someone to sleep through a storm?

Before the hired hand slept he did everything necessary to prepare. And then he trusted the outcome to someone else. That what Jesus did. He worked. Then he rested. So should we.

Instead of panic, we need peace. Peace that comes from doing all we can, all we should, and then trusting God to do what we can’t—which is prevent storms.

We can’t stop them. They come to everyone’s life. Sooner or later, suddenly a terrible storm will rise. You won’t see it until it’s too late. So prepare now for the inevitable. Protect your family. Shelter your assets. Provide for the future. If you do, you’ll learn what the disciples did.

The storm will cease.

There is nothing to fear.

We can be calm.

He sleeps in storms.