A Time to Give; a Time to Receive

July 9, 2015

A Time to Give; a Time to Receive

Then (Jesus) breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20:22

Jesus’ imperatives in Matthew 25 are very compelling: “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (Matthew 25:45-46). Couple this with Jesus’ imperative to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19), and we can make a good case for Christians staying busy doing and giving all the time. As evangelist Malcolm Smith noted, God created us as human beings, and we have turned into human doings. A major flaw in our flesh is the need to be in control, and most often it is easier to stay in control if we are giving as opposed to receiving. But, receiving is as vitally important as giving, maybe even more so, because if we don’t first receive from Christ, we have nothing of eternal substance to offer others.

I have always struggled with carving out quiet time where I can be still and know the presence of God. My need to receive was brought home to me on our recent vacation in Europe. We were traveling for two Sundays and thus missed being with our home church family. Although we visited several stunningly beautiful cathedrals, I missed being part of a worshipping community. Although we did experience a few worshipful and quiet moments, for the most part we were on the go all the time we were there. Already, we are home just a week, and the busy routines of life are settling in. My heart is pleading with my head to remember there is a time to give and a time to receive. I need equal time for both if I want to live a healthy life.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.