What Will You Give - God?

Psalms 116:12-19  "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? [13]  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. [14]  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. [15] Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. [16]  O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. [17]  I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. [18]  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, [19]  In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD."

I love Christmas! Lest you think I'm losing my mind, no, this isn't a sermon for Christmas. But with the holidays just passed, and still fresh in our minds, I just want to share this thought with you: I love Christmas. Around June or July of each year I start to pine for that sacred and holy time. I ponder over all the Christmas' of years past: the fresh cut Christmas tree, and how the smell wafts through the whole house. The family all together, the great food (and you can tell by looking at me, I like that part best), the time away from work to spend time with those you love and share a little of yourself, and the presents under the tree. Ah, the presents!

When Christmas rolls around the old saying "It's better to give than to receive" has slowly changed in my mind to "It's harder to give than to receive". When my children were young it was easy: whatever advertisement excited them on television, whatever new toy hit the market, if I could afford it, that was what I was going to get them. As a young (and exceptionally thoughtful) husband, I always purchased my wife cookware or some other tool for the kitchen. It never occurred to me (when I was younger) that what I was doing was akin to buying a carpenter a hammer, or a mason a trowel. Yet, as I aged, I learned the difference. The children grew, and as they grew their tastes grew more sophisticated, more expensive. I find that, now, as I slowly reach the "top of the hill" in years, it is harder to give than to receive because I just don't know what the children (now adults) will want or like. So each year I hold my breath, make the best guess I can, and hope they will like the results.

If it's difficult to shop for your loved ones, how much more difficult to give something to someone who has everything. What will you give .... God? If God was on your Christmas gift list, what would you give Him? The answer is easy, for, unlike the children, God makes His desires plain for all to see. You see, God wants the one thing that He will never take from you, but will accept if you will offer it. God wants you.
 

First, God wants you to give of yourself in accepting His great gift of salvation. In our Psalms text we read:

"[12] What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? [13]  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

God wants your salvation, but this is something that you yourself will have to receive. The verse reads I will take the cup of salvation. I will: You have to make a conscious decision right now, this very instant, today! Life is but a fleeting thing, a mist that can just as easily be gone tomorrow or even in the next minute. Each and every one of us are only one heartbeat away from God, and we never know when that heart will still.

King Hezekiah lay sick in his bed one day, sick to the point of death.

Isaiah 38:1-5 "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. [2]  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, [3]  And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. [4] Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, [5]  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years."

Hezekiah was given a great gift from the Lord. No, not the gift of a longer life. That was a great gift, but not the greatest one seen in this passage. You see, Hezekiah was forewarned of when his death was going to be. He was one of the few individuals who ever lived who knew exactly when he was going to die. If the angel of the Lord or a prophet came to you tomorrow and said, "You, dear brother (or) you, dear sister, will die tomorrow", how much different would your outlook on life be? What would you do differently? Would you hug your spouse a little tighter, would you tell your children you loved them more? How about your eternal life: Can you honestly say you know you will be in Heaven when your eyes close for the last time? Or will you, like the rich man in Jesus' story of Lazarus, "Lift up your eyes in hell" (Luke 16.23)? Do not respond like King Agrippa did to Paul (Acts 26.28) by saying "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian". Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, it will not get you into Heaven.

Give yourself to the Lord in salvation, but you cannot do this through your own feeble attempts at holiness. Note again in Psalms, verse 13, where we read I will take the cup of salvation. The cup of salvation is not something that you can fill up with your own "good works" until it pleases the Lord. The Bible tells us that our own feeble attempts at salvation are filthy to God:

Isaiah 64:6 "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Your good deeds will not save you. Your kind heart will not save you. Your work for the Church, or for a charity, or to feed the homeless will not bring you into a right relationship with God. You must take the cup that is provided, and filled with the right drink. That drink is Jesus.

On a dark and troubling night Jesus took His disciples with Him to a little garden called Gethsemane (Matthew 26.36). His soul was troubled for He knew that, very soon, the Father would call on Him to fill that cup of salvation. As Jesus stood in the garden praying, three times He asked the Father:

Matthew 26:39  "... O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Three times He asked, and three times the Father was silent. I know that the Father would have granted Jesus this prayer if He could have, but He couldn't. Jesus was the only one who could possibly fill the cup of salvation. We couldn't fill it; our works are tainted with the stench of sin. Jesus, pure and holy, had to fill this cup with His very life. And "the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 10:11)

Today is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. If you do not know Jesus, if you come forward today someone will help lead you to the portals of Heaven by calling on the name of the Lord.
 

First and foremost, God wants you to give yourself to Him in salvation. Second, He wants you to give yourself to Him in service. In our Psalms text, verse 16, we read:

[16]  "O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds."

Christ gave everything on the Cross for us, securing our salvation. Is it such an imposition that we serve Him in the power of the Spirit?
 

Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:

Dear Ruth,

I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit.

Love Always, Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me?  I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer."

With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. "Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner." She reached for her purse and counted out its contents.  Five
dollars and forty cents.

"Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the door.  A loaf of French bread, a half pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk...leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt  good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.

"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?"  Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags.

"Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we'd really appreciate it." Ruth looked at them both.  They were dirty, they smelled bad and, frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.

"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important  guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him."

"Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand.  Thanks anyway."  The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart.

"Sir, wait!"  The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them.  "Look, why don't you take this food.  I'll figure out something else to serve my guest."  She handed the man her grocery bag.

"Thank you lady. Thank you very much!"

"Yes, thank you!"  It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering.

"You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the  woman's shoulders.

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key.  But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox.

"That's odd.  The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day." She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.

Dear Ruth,

It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.

Love Always, Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.
(from Sam Weaver, used by permission)

If you are in Jesus, if you have partaken of the cup of Salvation, then you have been given a Gift of guaranteed Eternal Life in Heaven. Do not tell the Lord, "It's my time, it's my talent, it's my money". God extended Hezekiah's life by 15 years, and after this act of love Hezekiah realized that all he had, he truly owed to the Lord. It's God's time, for He allows you to live in it every day. It's God's talent, for He gave you that ability to share with your brothers and sisters in Christ, with the world around you. And it's God's money, for without His gracious provisions you would not have the money to spend, nor the ability to spend it.

Jesus illustrated the principle of Christian service by taking a little child in His lap:

Mark 9:35-37 "And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. [36]  And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, [37]  Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me."

In the ancient world children had no social standing, no rights, no ability to vote. They were unimportant, without power. Jesus taught us that we, as His people, must not be a "me too" society, but should spiritually submit ourselves to the needs of those around us in Godliness. What a revolutionary principle! Our Lord was our Servant unto death, we are to be His servant in this life. Power is not our goal, but service.
 

[17]  "I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD."

In the ancient world the Israelites offered animal sacrifices to God in obedience to the Mosaic Law. These sacrifices had no power to bring anyone to salvation, but they were prophetic "teaching aids" that emphasized that one day Messiah would come and take the place of these ineffectual sacrifices.

We no longer sacrifice bulls and sheep on the bloody altars of Israel, but God does require one sacrifice of us who believe. We are to sacrifice time every day, as frequently as we can, and put aside the cares of this life. Stop worrying about the job and how you didn't get the promotion. Put aside the disappointments, the trials, and look to the Father while saying "Thank You!". The Bible tells us:

1 Peter 2:9  "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"

You are a special people, you who have believed in Jesus for salvation. He wants your praise, your acknowledgment that you know and appreciate what He has done for you. When we fill this house with the praise of God mighty things can be done for Him. When we praise Him while in the world, others see and come to know our Jesus.

Psalms 103:1, 12  "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." ... "[12]  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus, but want to accept Him as your Saviour, now is the time to step forward. You, too, can have your transgressions removed as far as the east is from the west. The Spirit says, come!

Return to the Main Menu/ Bible Studies!