Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
I know that we hear all of the time from our friends, our loved ones, our co-workers, “hey, I am here for you” . “whatever you need, just let me know” “whatever I have is yours”….however most of the time this old saying holds true. We will be friends through thick and thin……but when it gets thick….I am going to thin out! That is the way most of our relationships go. As a result we become jaded, we become untrusting, we start to think that the only person that is willing to give 100% for us….is us. It is no surprise that we take those feelings and throw them right on to the Lord.
The Lord will not help me, I am all alone, God does not care. All of these feelings have little to do with what the Lord is doing in our life, and a lot to do with the fact that this is the expectation that we have experienced from the world, so we project it onto God. Romans 8 is a great chapter, we all know verse 28 that reads that God works for the good in the lives of those who love Him. This verse (32) is even more to the point. God loves each one of us so much that He gave His only Son. He did not spare Him, He did not hold anything back. He gave the most important thing any of us could think of….His own Son. Do you really think God would make that kind of commitment, then turn and walk away? Bring that thought into your own life. Think of something you have worked on, something that you have poured your heart and soul into. Did you reach a point where you just said forget it, before it was completed? Highly doubtful. Now what if it was something that you felt so committed to that you leveraged your house, your car, and all of your savings? Would you just throw in the towel when it got hard, or looked difficult? No, of course not, you have gone all in, you will give whatever is needed to make sure it works. Now think if you had to give one of your children. The only way you could see this thing through would be for you to give up one of your own…..would you quit? Would you be willing to walk away? If it was something that you loved so much that you killed one of your own children, what would it take to make you stop giving to that cause? NOTHING.
That is where God is at in your relationship. There is nothing that can separate you for God loving you, there is nothing that can come between you and Christ…..except yourself. You see all too often, God does not run out on us, we run out on Him. God gave His Son. What did we give? What do we continue to give? Have you ever given any thought to the idea that God has not quit giving, we have just quit accepting? You might think “whaaat?” no way, no how have I quit taking anything offered by God. What about the love of your spouse? Do you accept that every day, or are there many days that it is taken for granted to the point that it is just an expectation? What about your family, your job (or the time given to you while you do not have one), your friends, those that come in contact with you every day? What do we do with these things? Anything? anything at all? Do we accept these gifts that are given daily, or do we just expect them to be there? As a result, we do not truly accept them, we set them on a shelf to collect dust, and miss the spectacular gift that has been given to us.
Now let me ask you this. If you have children (and if not think of when you were a kid) what do you do when you give your child gifts and the do not use them, or they waste them, or they take them for granted? Don’t you want to find a way to get them to use what has been given before you give more? Why give them another bike, when the one they have is not used? Why give them a new glove, when they will not even go outside to play ball? Starting to see the point? There is nothing that God will not give you, if you need it. There is no length that the Lord will not go to make sure you are taken care of. He is all in, He has invested His most precious asset. He has made the full commitment. Now it is up to each of us to utilize what we have been given. We have to accept the gifts given each day, we have to make the most of every day. I can promise you that you have been given a gift today….what will you do with it? Will you set it to the side while you wait for the “good” gift? The one you have been praying for, the one that YOU really want? Or will you choose to take each gift and celebrate it, cherish it, and make the most out of it? Yeah I know if we do that with every little gift we are given we will be pretty tired, and we will be pretty busy…….and we will realize that we are pretty blessed. God does not hold back, so make it a point to not hold back on God. He will flood your life, but you have to turn on the spigot. He Gave the first gift, He gave the big gift. Will it go to use, or go on the shelf? There is nothing God will not give, can we say the same about what we are willing to give back to God?
God Bless,
Brian Thetford
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