“But
God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then
whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:20-21 NKJV
Christmas
is rapidly approaching and along with it comes the normal anticipation of just
what we might find waiting for us under the tree on Christmas morning. I’m sure most of us have memories of when we
were children and the hopes we had looking at all of the presents that had our
names on them. As parents, I’m equally
sure we have the memories of our own children and how excited they were at this
time of year as they counted down the days until Christmas morning. Yet while we enjoy this time of year and all
that accompanies it my question to you today is this; in all of the excitement
of the season, is it possible you have overlooked the one person most deserving
of a gift?
Many
of us are familiar with this passage from Luke, but as is often the case,
sometimes we can overlook parts of the passage by generalizing the
message. You see, if you ask ten people
what this passage is about they would probably say greed or selfishness. Yet what would you say if I said it was about
stealing from God? Now if that sounds a
little harsh, I suggest we look pay attention to the phrase “and
is not rich toward God.” Why
“toward” God? The answer to that lies in
the realization of where all that we have comes from in the first place. The Word is very clear on that subject; all
that we have comes directly from God the Father.
Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17 NKJV
Have
you ever received a gift from someone at Christmas whom you didn’t expect to
get one from? What was your
reaction? If you are like me, your first
thought is to run out and buy one for them as well. It would just seem to most of us to be a
natural reaction when receiving a gift from someone else that you would want to
reciprocate in some way. Yet if we apply
that train of thought to our relationship with God, and acknowledge that the
Word is clear about the source of our gifts, are we really as concerned with giving
back to God the way that we should? If
not, exactly how does that appear to God?
You are
cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
Bring all the tithes
into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in
this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of
heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to
receive it. Malachi 3:9-10 NKJV
Holding
back from God is considered to be robbery.
Now while most of us might not look at it quite that way, God makes it
perfectly clear He sees it that way. The phrase “try me now” is also
translated “test me”. It is the Hebrew
word “bachan” which literally means
that God is telling us that if we don’t believe Him, test Him! See if He won’t deliver on His promise to
literally give us more than we know what to do with. It introduces something I have come to call
the circle principle, which God has proven to me over and over again. It is simply this; as He gives to me, I simply
give back all that He has asked for. As
long as I do that, God has always given me more. As He gives me more, I then give Him more,
and the end result is an increase in blessing.
I now find that what I am left with after giving God what is His, is
steadily more than what I used to have when I held back.
“Give,
and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and
running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you
use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 NKJV
What
I failed to do, and what many other believers fail to do, is to take God at His
word. As I thought about that, it
occurred to me that in essence, I was really calling God a liar. As hard as it is to admit, that is really
what it comes down to. You either choose
to take God at His word and believe Him, or you don’t. For quite some time I found very reasonable
excuses to give back to God a little less than I should have and then always
wondered why I could never get ahead.
Thankfully there came a time where I realized what I was doing and made
the choice to test Him as He asked, and as you would expect, He kept His word and
blessed me more than I even expected.
But
this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows
bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his
heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to
make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in
all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2
Corinthians 9:6-8 NKJV
This
is the season in which we celebrate giving.
Not only did we receive the greatest gift of all, God’s Son in flesh to
deliver us from our sins, we also, by receiving that gift and becoming a part
of God’s family, receive the promise of His generosity towards us in ways we
cannot even imagine. All we need to do
is simply remember Him when it comes to our giving, and give to Him first all
that He so richly deserves. We all love to receive gifts, especially at this
time of year but the question remains, have you first given to God that which
is His? Test Him and see.
“I am
the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and
find pasture. “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. John 10:9-10 NKJV
If
you have never made the choice to accept His gift of salvation to you, I pray
you would do it today. Just pray and ask
Him to forgive your sins and to take control of your life, because you believe
His Son, Jesus Christ was born, died, and rose again so you could have life,
and have it more abundantly.
Keep
watching.
