YOU RECEIVE TO BLESS

Lerotholi J Mahao

It is the theme and burden of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation that Christ, the beginning of the creation of God, left the bliss and beauty of heaven to die for sinners. I want to believe that there is no place as joyous and glorious as heaven. Yet, He, the Bishop of our souls counted heaven not a place to be enjoyed while His children were running deep in the valley of sin. He willingly decided to leave the abode of happiness and harmony in order to die for man.

Imagine, how painful it was for Him to leave the worship and praise of the holy seraphs and cherubs, to come upon this earth only to be mocked and spat upon by those whom He had created; yes, to be tossed to and fro by Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate and the sin-hardened Herod! Beloved, He did all these, not for His own sake but for our redemption. And it took Him humiliation, self-denial and self-sacrifice. I repeat, He went through all these for us. In other words, He emptied His mind of Himself, and focused solely on our salvation.

The Holy Spirit through Paul affirms this point, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others”, He continues “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5 KJV). Actually, this verse goes to the very root of the plan of salvation, but that is business for another day. Today, I want us to draw a spiritual lesson regarding how God expects those who have means to minister to the needy.

Now, if Christ gave all that we may gain all, then those who truly follow on His footsteps ought to also deny themselves and extend a helping hand to the poor. It is not to gratify our selfish desires that God blesses us with means, but it is for the purpose of being, in turn, a blessing unto others. “He gives to us that we may minister to others and thus become like Himself” (Christ Object Lesson (COL) page 141.1, EG White).

As people who are surrounded by influences around us, when God increases our means by signing a lucrative business contract, finding a so-called high-paying job, being promoted to an executive position etcetera, we often believe that now is high time we started showing the world that we too can afford to drive elegant cars, live in glamorous houses and eat in prestigious restaurants. Indeed, this is how the mentality of our society is framed, and because of the simple principle of ‘influence of mind upon mind’, we inevitably find ourselves sunken in this kind of mentality. But we tend to forget that the more we are blessed with resources, the more responsible we are to impart to those who are in need.

It is simple; more blessings mean weightier responsibilities! Clearly put, “We are to ask blessings from God that we may communicate to others. The capacity for receiving is preserved only by imparting” (COL 142.3). This also means we get in proportion to what we give. Haven’t you noticed how we complain in our churches when a call to pledge towards a certain ministerial activity is made! And yet, hardly a few hours after the call, we ask God for material blessings! Undoubtedly, some of us have little because we give little, while the Bible plainly declares that “One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and comes to poverty. A generous person will be enriched, and the one who provides water for others will himself be satisfied” (Proverbs 11:24-25 NET).

In other words, supplying the necessities of the poor is like depositing money in a heaven-based investment account which in future will surely yield good returns. You think I am framing it myself, NO! Listen to what Solomon says, “The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay Him for his good deed” (Proverbs 19:17 NET). “The one who gives to the poor will not lack, but whosoever shuts his eyes to them will receive many curses” (Proverbs 28:27 NET). Beautiful promises!

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