Love Loves To Give

Love Loves To Give

For our meditation I ponder the magnificent words of Jesus where he encourages the Christian to give:

_{Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (KJV Bible)}

Healing the sick: cleansing the lepers: Herein is a great commission given to the first disciples. What power, what fantastic authority they had been given. Yet, they paid or did nothing for it. They are now commissioned to charge the same for its exercise! What they freely received they are to freely give.

TRUE LOVE LOVES TO LOVE

True love likes to love;
Divine love loves to give. 
Godly love longs to share.
His gifts are from above!

So, if I receive from Him,
His best down here below.
I’ll share it with a neighbor,
For Jesus tells me so.

For, if I be like Jesus,
And receive His bounty rich.
I should give to help my neighbor
Who has stumbled to the ditch.

For if I be like Jesus,
His love will like  to love.
And my love will long to share,
His gifts are from above!

This is a great lesson for the Christian.  Many Christians portray their faith and profession much like the beggar on the street corner.  They are victims of a universal conspiracy of some sort that has robbed them of their treasures. They approach Christ and His Church with hobo hands and open palms pleading for this week’s crumbs which might fall from the Master’s table.  Their disposition and countenance seem to say, “I have been good this week – I hope Santa God will give me a present!”

However, such is far from the case of a real disciple.  My question to us is, “What is it that we have not received?”

Excuse me for a moment as I count some of my blessings!  I have before me the Great Hope which delights me, the joy-filled Redemption which buys me, the mighty advocacy of Christ which comforts me, the inspired Word of God which guides me, the Holy Ghost which empowers me,   and His Love which so enriches me!  In addition I have a home which shelters me; I live in a land of freedom; I belong to a Bible believing church, I have a Christian family; my children honor me in my home, in my church, and in my world; I am most richly blessed.  I challenge the readers of this hub – take a moment and count your many blessings; weigh them in balance against the temporary distractions and afflictions that come from just living.  Ponder the things which would destroy your day over against the promise of Christ for eternity.  I reckon the weight of your day may be heavy, but there is a name above everything you might name.  His grace is sufficient for the time, and He will never leave you!

C. H. Spurgeon used to preach only once each year "for his orphans." At that great meeting many would come to hear the famous preacher, and an offering would be received for his orphanage. After one of these meetings he is reputed to have been leaving the building where the service had taken place when one of those "super spiritual," narrow-minded, nitpicking individuals accosted him with the charge, "Why, Mr. Spurgeon, I thought you preached for souls and not for money!"  The story relates that Spurgeon gravely replied, “Why, Mr. ‘So-and-So,’ normally I do preach for souls and not for money.  But my orphans can't eat souls and if they did, my brother, it would take at least four the size of yours to give one of them a square meal!"

Freely He gives and freely we receive. How dare we keep the donation to ourselves? Even in poverty we are made rich; even in sickness we are made whole; even in death we live. The largesse of love we see whether we look here or there, up or down, in or out. We live in a boon of adoration. He bestows gifts upon gifts and promises even more.

“Freely you have received, freely give!”

Illustration: I am so glad I am a teacher:

How many times have I heard a fellow Christian say, "Oh, you mean you teach a class of little kids? Oh, you poor thing. You are a glutton for punishment." My mental reaction to such a statement is, "You poor thing. If you have never tried it, you don't know the wealth of blessing you are missing." Poor thing, indeed! There are few moments so precious as seeing the dancing eyes of a little child as he sees the big fish (made up of a bleach bottle) literally swallow up Jonah (a puppet), and then to see relief come and his whole body relax and settle against his chair when he sees that "God took care of Jonah and He will take care of me, too, if I obey Him." Another example is the excited voice of a little one tugging at Mother or Daddy to "come to see the 10 lepers that Jesus made well." Am I a “poor thing,” when I hear from three rows back the loud whisper, "Mommy, that's my teacher?" Who knows, that Bible class I teach may lead someone to heaven who otherwise might not have known the way. Sorry friend, that poor thing isn't me!

Must we not put together some energy that the poor heathen might partake of the boon? The freedom of this Gospel is for him as well as us. Souls are dying; Jesus says, “The sick need a Physician.” His gifts bring Him into our hearts; it is up to us to take Him to the hearts of others. We are His witnesses. A true witness is one who knows the truth and has seen and heard. A righteous witness can condemn a man to death or set him free. I figure that choice is still in our hands. We can bind or loose. We can give or be greedy!

Of all vices greed is the ugliest. How hideous we are to be selfish and how vile to be unlike the unselfish Jesus. Many Christians will attend church this week in fetters not made of steel chains, but bonds of their own making, created by their own egotism. When you stop giving, you shut the gates of blessing. If any one thing more than another should be the focus of our day by day petitions, it is to be enlightened from the love of self to the joy of giving. We should pray to be no more held imprisoned by the steely chain of selfishness. The moment we begin to pray for others and share their load, the fetters fall off, and that which held us down now helps to bear us.

I desire no fee in the life of faith, but ever to be receiving and ever to be giving: “Freely ye have received: freely give.”

O God, Do Thou Sustain Me - Anabaptist Martyr Hymn:

Written by Leonhart Sommer, who died in prison, December 1573, because of his belief.

I am of a different heritage than that of this hymn given. However, the history of the Christian church is full of stories of persecution and martyrdom. These men and women are eternal testimonies to the grace of freely giving. I hope you enjoy this hymn as I do. Hearing the words and prayer of one who so gave is hauntingly beautiful! May God bless you, and

'Maranatha!'
from Pastor Walt