THE INDESCRIBABLE GIVER-Seeking the greatest blessing
THE INDESCRIBABLE GIVER
Seeking the greatest blessing
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son,that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish,but have everlastinglife.” (Jn. 3:16)
We all know the joy a gift can bring. Children sometimes make gift lists (one of our sons once helpfully divided his list into “reasonable” and “unreasonable”) in the hopes of things to come. As we grow, our idea of the perfect gift grows with us.
At some point, however, we discover a joy greater than receiving. As the Lord Himself said:“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35b)
At first glance, this seems counter-intuitive.Surely receiving is to be
preferred! Yet, we see the truth of the Lord’s words everywhere we
look.
There
are those who come into a local church with the singular desire to
receive. They avoid any kind of regular commitment or service. They
choose only those meetings or events which suit them. One might think—on
a natural level—that they would be the happiest people in the assembly
since they constantly receive and never have to give. But quite the
opposite is true. They are usually among the first (and most frequent)
to criticize, complain,and take offense.
If you want to find those who truly enjoy the assembly, you’ll have to look somewhere else: to those who give.
What about in the family? Again,
our age has no shortage of spouses whose primary goal in marriage is to
be on the receiving end. Sacrifice for their wife or husband isn’t high
on their priority list. They can (and do!) list the ways their spouse
should change in order to accommodate them. Requests, demands, hints,
bargains, strategies—all designed to get their own way. And yet, no matter how much they “get,” few people are more miserable.
Furthermore, the child who gets
everything he wants; the child who has discovered that he can bend his
parents (or his friends) to his will, provided he makes a big enough
fuss—is he a happy child? Is he a blessed child? There’s a reason we
call such children “spoiled.” Unless this spirit of receiving is quenched when he is young, he is in for a bleak, lonely, frustrating life.
No,
the Lord Jesus was, as always, perfectly right when He told us that
giving was the path to blessing and happiness. We understand this as
soon as we love someone. Don’t get me wrong—I’m deeply grateful for the various works of fine art that my children have made for
me over the years—treasures that will never grace the Louvre. But my
real joy is to give to them. Not necessarily in the terms of the
possessions that our society is obsessed with. There are far more
important gifts to give. But seeing their faces light up is a far
greater present than anything that comes in wrapping paper. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive.
But is even giving the greatest good? Let us take one step higher.
Above gifts, beyond giving, there is the great, incomparable Giver. “Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning.” (Jas. 1:17)
Nobody has ever given like He has. Think of the recipients of His gift: we give to those we love; He gave to His enemies. Or the extent of His giving: His giving never ends—He showers us with “grace upon grace” (Jn. 1:16). But eclipsing all, there is the cost of His gift—a gift that outweighs heaven and earth: His only begotten Son. A gift to fill our hearts with joy and blessing for all eternity.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor। 9:15)
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK by James Martin
UPLOOK / NOVEMBER- DECEMBER 2008
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
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