Receive or obtain ?

Thursday 10 June 2021

Receive or obtain ?

“We have all received of His fulness, and grace upon grace.” John 1.16

Our society has conditioned us to seek to get what we want, either by buying it or by getting it with the strength of our wrists. So we often find it difficult to accept something that is offered to us for free. Jesus did not say : "Take hold of what you need", but He said : "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be complete" (John 16.24). This verse is very simple, yet we often avoid approaching God to remind Him of His promises or to ask Him for help. We must first learn to receive “grace for grace” from His hands before we can give to others in proportion to what we have received. Remember that in all things God will not allow you to be successful if you do not lean on Him. Pride is the obstacle that prevents us from asking and therefore from receiving. Humility of heart is essential in order to accept anything from the hands of God. Many of us see humility as a character trait that we must attain and develop within ourselves, while humility, like faith or grace, is a gift from God. Since He knows all we need, if He waits for us to ask to grant us, it is so that we can touch that we are entirely dependent on Him and His grace. If we know our place in the family of God, then let us approach His throne boldly and confidently, with expressions of gratitude on our lips. Indeed, God loves to give all His children “grace for grace”. So why do we find it difficult to receive ? Because our earthly nature opposes it ; as sociologist Marcel Mauss explained, "we are in a position of inferiority vis-à-vis the giver, we feel at his mercy, dispossessed of ourselves." This is also why we must “crucify our flesh every day” !

Source (His Word for Today)