The
Gift of God
“The
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 6:23)
Romans 6:23 is a
very popular verse of scripture. I think, though,
that one word which continuously gets missed in that
passage is the word “gift.”
The problem is, none of us really know how to accept
a gift of that importance. We wonder what we have to
do to keep our names in the Book of Life. Even those
of us who are convinced that we can’t lose our
salvation still feel the need to justify our entry
into heaven by “being a good person,” or “keeping
the ten commandments” or even “going to church on a
regular basis.”
But Jesus knew
exactly what He was giving us. It’s all of us that
muck it up. And not just in the aspect of sinning,
either. The fact that we can’t just worship and
thank Him for eternal life is not only a mistake,
it’s a pity. This gift was given us through hours of
agony, pain and suffering endured just before, and
while He was on that cross at Calvary. How do you
pay that back? I think it is when we realize that
it’s impossible to pay it back that we begin to see.
You see, a gift is no longer a gift once we fear
losing it. It then becomes a burden and something
that requires work to keep. This is why God takes
our choice away once we accept His gift of
salvation. If we could truly lose our salvation, it
would mean that we have to WORK to keep it. And that
would turn His gift into a goal.
Again, this is why
trusting in Christ takes away our power of choice.
If we choose everlasting life, our choice of death
evaporates. But too many are like Lot’s wife,
looking back at our previous lives with longing and
reminiscence. And God knew we would. If He
didn’t, He wouldn’t have warned Lot and his family
NOT to look back. He knows our every weakness. He
knew that if we were able, we would waffle and grow
weak and often decide that loving Him with all our
heart was too hard to do and give up our salvation
through our actions. But God wills that NONE shall
perish. NONE! He is a jealous God, refusing to allow
us to give up our soul once we have given ourselves
to Him.
One of the things I
love the most in this world is being a father. My
boys are truly gifts from God. I find though, that
the times that it is the least fun is when I am
worried about things happening to them and taking
them from me. My worry leads to fear, which is the
antithesis of faith. Have you ever enjoyed something
that brings you fear? Not roller coasters or
parachuting or any other thrill seeking events, but
something that could actually bring you heartache.
If I live my life fearing what may happen to my
boys, I will find myself limiting the amount of life
they actually get to live. And I limit my own
ability to live life and to enjoy seeing the
fullness of joy manifested in my boys living theirs.
In Jeremiah, when
God speaks of Israel committing two evils by
forsaking Him, the fountain of living water and
making themselves broken cisterns that can hold no
water (Jeremiah 2:13), He is plainly speaking of the
false idols that many have. If I hold my boys up so
much in my life that I fear losing them to the point
where I am paralyzed by fear and it gets in the way
of my relationship with Christ, haven’t I turned my
two precious gifts from God into “broken
cisterns?” Now if you think that I am saying
that I need to show my sons less love, you are
missing the point. In our fallen human state, we can
turn anything that God has given us as a gift into a
broken cistern as soon as we turn to it instead of
turning to Christ. But it’s not that easy to just
trust in Him for all that we need, is it? How easy
is it for ANY of us to put our faith in something
unseen? And yet, Christ BEGS us to do just that. He
won’t do the parlor tricks necessary to bring
everyone on the earth to Him, even though He yearns
to save us all. Read the Gospels – He grieves over
His lost children. It is from His broken heart that
He pours His grace and mercy and compassion directly
to me whenever I think about and dwell on losing my
boys to the Muscular Dystrophy that looms over them.
I once wrote a poem
titled ‘I don’t want it to be tomorrow’. It is about
how painful it is to think about time passing when I
have to face the fact that my sons will be taken
earlier than I wish. I really do look at them often,
wishing that I could look forward to them growing up
just as much as other parents get to relish in the
daydreams of their kids accomplishing and attaining
all the things that kids do. But just the other day
I realized the complete hypocrisy in this. We are on
this earth for one thing and one thing only: to
glorify Christ. That’s it. The formula for true joy
and happiness here is to do everything to shine His
light among men. If that is true, then who am I to
want to get in the way of my sons living their lives
in Christ? I should be (and am now) excited to see
the glorious and wonderful things that they will do
through Christ. These two boys are going to affect
so many different people in amazing ways. Why should
my fear get in the way of that? God will see the
work done regardless of what I do.
Fortunately,
lovingly, God has insured that anything we create is
a “broken vessel,” that will not hold or deliver the
living water we need so desperately. Let’s go back
to God taking our choice away once we choose life.
He did this to ensure that we are His for eternity,
but He also did it so we can…RELAX. Yes, I said
relax. Look up the word ‘finish’ in any dictionary.
You’ll find synonyms like “complete, end,
accomplish,” etc. I find it interesting that in
Genesis, when He speaks of the heavens and earth
being finished, one of the meanings in the Hebrew
language is to “wholly reap.” And, in the Greek,
when Christ said that it is “finished”
on the cross, it includes the meaning, “to pay.”
What in the world makes us so arrogant as to think
that we have ANYTHING else to add to creation, or
that we have any ability to help pay for our sins?
The author of Hebrews tells us to “…enter
His rest…” Isn’t He telling us that once we
are saved, we have nothing else to do?
For some reason, we
have something inherently inside of us which refuses
to believe that anything is for free. But again,
isn’t that what a gift really is? It is impossible
to receive a gift without it changing you in some
way, except when we refuse to believe that it really
is free. But our nature says that we must somehow
repay the giver. Even when we receive something for
our birthday; a thank you card, hug, return
gift…SOMETHING has to be given back to show our
appreciation. What if the way Christ wants us to
show our appreciation is to do NOTHING…but love Him
with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength
and all our mind? Forget about the Nuns cracking
your knuckles, the reverend damning you to hell or
the healer asking you for money. Jesus transcends
everything, and all He wants is your love. Give Him
that love and everything else just falls into place.
Father, give me the
power to accept the gifts You have given to me, and
allow me to REST in You and what You have already
finished. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Chris Beckham, Guest
Speaker
christopherbeckhamsr@hotmail.com
