Yesterday, we looked at HOW God blesses us, and if you didn't get a chance to read that post, I invite you to do so now before jumping in on our study today. This morning (or whenever you are reading this), I want to investigate WHY God blesses us, why He insists on showering us with lavish gifts, why He pours His grace and love and mercy out on us day after day after day, and why He gets so much joy from doing so.
Even if you're not a master chef, you have probably spent at least a little time in a kitchen. Personally, I enjoy cooking and baking and preparing homemade meals and treats for my family. Feeding my clan is one of the main ways I express my love for them. It's also a way I get to spend quality time with my young girls. We've made some precious memories stirring up batter for banana bread or chocolate chip cookies, with their favorite part being when the time comes for them to lick the beaters and bowl, of course. Despite the amount of time I spend in the kitchen, I have yet to learn the art of following a recipe or actually measuring out the ingredients for whatever it is I am making. I am more the "little of this," a "bit of that," a "dash of this," and a "sprinkling of that" type of person. I have all these great "tools" to help me prepare food, but I rarely use them. One of my tools collecting dust in the cabinet is my colander, also known as a strainer for those of us who prefer to use simpler terms. I have nothing against my colander. I am sure it does a fine job of straining water from noodles or whatever else it is intended to do. I just don't make pasta all that often (being gluten free) and when I do, I simply put the pot up against the side of the sink and drain my noodles that way. I figure it's faster and easier and saves me from washing one more thing (or in all honesty loading it into the dishwasher for the machine to wash it for me). My way is fine, but I always lose a few noodles down the sink and I know I probably don't get all the water off the noodles in the first place. Furthermore, I'm certainly not able to rinse them off very well, without having to re-empty the pot up against the side of the sink, and lose a few more pieces of pasta to the drain in the process. So maybe I should take that extra second to grab my colander and use the tool designed specifically for this part of the meal preparation. Maybe I should embrace the colander...
I actually want to talk about how we should be like a colander in the way we receive God's blessings, in whatever form they may come.
In all my digging around in the Word, never once did I find an instance where we are told to keep God's blessings to ourselves. Not one single time did I see anything about clutching His blessings to our chest, turning away from anyone who tries to "take them away" from us, and shouting "MINE!" in fear that we will lose our precious blessings forever. Yet, if we are honest in our assessment of our behavior, we would have to admit we are more childish than we care to believe. My challenge for us (myself included) is to become more like the colander and let God's blessings flow right on through us, SHARING them with anyone and everyone we can, believing that as we do we fulfill the true purpose in receiving these blessings at all. Remember, we are MADE FOR MORE. I believe with all my heart that we are BLESSED TO BE BLESSING.
Don't take my word for it, though. Let's take a look at Scripture to see what God Himself has to say on the subject. As we do, keep in mind that God's blessings are an outpouring of His LOVE for us:
John 13:34-35, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Romans 13:8-9, "Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14, "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, "But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more."
2 Thessalonians 1:3, "Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing."
Hebrews 10:24, "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works."
1 John 2:3-8, "And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining."
1 John 3:10-11, "So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another."
1 John 4:7-8, "Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
2 John 2:5-6, "I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning."
And one of my favorites, as it portrays my illustration of the colander and letting God's love (and blessings) flow right on through us...
1 Thessalonians 3:12, "And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows."
As we receive God's blessings - be it in the form of tangible things like possessions and money or in the shape of unique gifts and abilities or in the sense of His very presence in our lives - we are not to hold onto these manifestations of God's love, but rather let them flow out of us and in turn BLESS everyone with whom we come into contact, either in person or via the internet or whatever other interactions we may have on a day to day basis. I think it's an undeniable principle taught in Scripture that we BLESSED TO BE A BLESSINGS, as we clearly see from this host of verses commanding us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS GOD AS LOVED US.
Lest we start to get chinsy in our love for one another, stockpiling blessings for ourselves and begrudingly handing out the leftovers (you've seen your child do this - she will gather all the best toys for herself and then pass out one or two of her least favorite items to her siblings, giving the appearance that she is sharing when in reality she is being a selfish little brat), may we remember how vast our Father's love is for us.
Romans 5:5-11, "For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."
If God can love us while we are His enemies, giving up His one and only Son to die an excruciating death on the cross, taking our sins upon Himself and dying in our place so that we might live and have an eternal relationship with Him, becoming His friends, His children, then surely we can love one another. And not just the people we like or those who are nice to us. Not just when it's convenient or when we will get something in return. Rather, we are called to love our enemies, the people who rub us the wrong way, the ones who irritate us and the ones we can't stand to be around, even the ones who have hurt us. Yep, we're supposed to love them too. We're commanded to love at all times, even when it's painful or difficult or seemingly impossible. Those are actually the instances we should probably love the most...
Hey, I didn't say this whole being a colander thing was going to be easy. BUT, if you look at the other choice, it's not all that appealing either. And what would that be, you want to know. Well, if water isn't flowing through you, it's standing still. Which makes you a puddle of stagnant, grimy, sticky, smelly filth. Given that option, I personally would much rather choose to be a colander. But maybe that's just me...
One of the lines in Casting Crown's song "Thrive," which inspired this whole series in the first place, reads:
So living water flowing through
God we thirst for more of You
Fill our hearts and flood our souls
With one desire
Just to know You
and to make You known
As God pours out His blessings on us, we are to let them pass right on through, filling our hearts and flooding our souls, spilling out and overflowing to all those around us. In receiving His blessings, we come to know Him more, for His ultimate blessing is that of a personal relationship with Him. Yet, as we dwell in His presence and are transformed from the inside out, we can't keep this goodness to ourselves. We are compelled to share it, to pass it on, to invite everyone else to experience God in this way, to embark on this life-changing journey with us. We should be racing to the mountaintops, climbing to the rooftops, standing on the street corners, shouting it out for all to hear. And yet, far too often, we are hiding inside, surrounded by a pile of blessings so big we can't even move, let alone truly enjoy all that God has given us.
My oldest daughter is like this. She grabs a purse or bag and will shove as many toys as she can into it. Play food. Stuffed animals. Bracelets. Puzzle pieces. Blocks. Whatever random items she can find. In they go. Then, she tries to lug her bag around as she plays her make-believe game. In so doing, she isn't able to enjoy any of the toys she so feverishly jammed into her purse or even carry them on the "adventure" she created with her vivid imagination. Rather than having fun, she comes to me whining and complaining about how heavy her bag is, how she wants me to help her hold it. The minute I suggest she take a few items out of her purse or share some of them with her sister, however, the tears start to fall and she cries out adamantly, "NO! These are MINE! I NEED ALL OF THEM!" I shake my head and walk away, telling her I can't do anything to help her then...
How many times do we do the same?
How many times does God shake His head and wish we would just listen to what He's saying?
How many times do we miss out on all God has for us because we're so holding so tightly to what He's already given us that we can't receive everything else from the stockpile of blessings He is waiting so eagerly to pour out on us?
If only we would realize that WE ARE MADE FOR MORE.
If only we would understand that as we SHARE God's blessings, we in turn are blessed all over again.
If only we would recognize we are BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING...
Please hear my heart and know that I am challenging myself with this truth as well. As we learn and grow together, we can help each other know God more and work together to make Him known. We can remind each other "we are made for so much more than ordinary lives." We can call each other out, for NOW is the time for us to start living the way God intended for us, NOW "it's time for us to more than just survive." I am made for more. YOU are made for more. WE ARE MADE TO THRIVE!
As we conclude this series on being MADE FOR MORE, I hope you have seen what the Bible has to say. I long for you to take God at His word. I pray you have invited Jesus into your life so that He can bless your socks off in ways you never even imagined. I urge you to share this blessing and all of God's blessings with anyone and everyone you can. I invite you to continue with me on this crazy adventure, believing in our heart of hearts that "anything is possible" as we follow hard after God and let Him work freely in and through us. May we allow Him to revive our dreams and start to once again pursue the passions He has placed deep inside of us, In so doing, may we boldly declare His name to the ends of the earth, causing the "darkness to run and hide," putting Satan in his place and letting him know we aren't going to believe his lies anymore. We are digging deep and discovering our Father's heart, a heart filled with such a gracious, abundant, lavish expansive love for us that we simply have to share it. It's what we were made to do.
Let's listen together one more time to the song that inspired this all and take it's message to our fellow travelers in this "worn and weary land..."
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