You’re a millionaire now!
If an anonymous billionaire gave you a million dollars, it would be a pretty amazing gift. From that point forward, money would never be a problem for you. What a relief. Now, what if the following week he decides to buy you a car? You’d have enough respect to thank him for that, but the car-gift would be seriously overshadowed by the original money-gift. Don’t get me wrong, the car is nice and all, but you could have bought it yourself, you’re a dang millionaire now!
Now why is it that as Christians we can be forgiven for all of our sins, welcomed into the family of God, adopted as the Creator of the Universe’s own child, given the knowledge of where we will go when we die – a beautiful afterlife — all these things in one simple gift given to us for free, better than any amount of money — and we want more, complain about not getting more, scratch and beg for more. How could we take such a gift for granted? Should it not have the potential to overshadow everything else?
With a gift like a million dollars, you’d feel like you need to give back. Maybe now you feel like mowing his lawn all the time, or working for his company for free? Who knows. But some sort of respect would undoubtedly come from the receipt of such a gift.
It’s time to share
So why is it that all too often we keep our gift to ourselves? God not only gives us the gifts I mentioned above but even more to go about having success spreading his gift to others. The many gifts of spreading his gift, one way or another and we each got at least one of them. Shouldn’t we use them? Shouldn’t we share?
If the billionaire said “here’s a million, and here’s my phone number, tell anyone you want to text me, and I’ll PayPal them a million dollars as well”, and you don’t give that phone number out, especially to people you supposedly care about – would that not be the most selfish thing ever?
Maybe your life was a trash dump waiting to get shipped to the middle of the ocean, or maybe you had it all together. As Christians, we might have technically all come from different walks of the earth, but we were all born and raised on an earth ran by the evil one. God saving us from this dirty planet is just about the most loving thing He could possibly do. But He not only saved you, but He also gave you tools (like the billionaire’s phone number) to make telling others about this saving-gift that much easier.
Sometimes we forget the state we were in when we got saved. As I mentioned, for some, it was worse than others. That being said, more important than forgetting where we came from, we tend to more-so forget where the gospel came from. God’s loving mercy on our souls was not a quick decision on God’s part. Our receipt of the gift is just about the easiest thing ever especially when compared to the long line of history, ancestry, miracles, and all sorts of prophecy that had to fall in line in order for Jesus to even be born.
It’s important that we not only spend any amount of time every day reminding ourselves of the origins of our gifts but with that knowledge in our hearts and minds, commit ourselves to serve the Lord. In return for what He has done for us, the best we can do is sacrifice the rest of our lives to the cause of serving Him (not just some parts of our lives, but our entire life, our entire body & soul).
Renewing our minds
When we devote ourselves to studying the word daily or at least reading and praying daily, we “renew” our minds. This renewal transforms our character over time, making us become more and more like Christ. Not only that but we will move closer to truly knowing and understanding the Lord’s will in our (and our people’s) lives. The closer we are to him, the closer we are to understanding him and washing off the scum of the world we have rolled around in since birth.
God indeed has given us each at least one spiritual gift (on top of his saving grace and all the other random things he does for us every day). Some take these gifts and consider themselves special. They were asked to teach, so now that they are in front of a crowd it is so clear to all of their peers that they are important, they think. Glory be to me! Well, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that this is a struggle for me. Even if I know the truth, I have to constantly, repeatedly, tell myself it’s not about me or pray,” please Lord, I know it’s not about me, help me not think about me”.
With our daily reminders, may it be praying, reading, studying, or whatever combination it is that you choose to stay close to God, we need also to remind ourselves of how great we are not. Besides, “who regards you as superior or what sets you apart as special? What do you have that you did not receive [from another]? And if in fact you received it [from God or someone else], why do you boast as if you had not received it [but had gained it by yourself]?” (1 Cor. 4:7 [AMP]).
based on Romans 12:1-3
NASB
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
This article is a part of a series, once you are done reading this one, read part 2!