Freely You Have Received

: “Freely you have received; freely give.” Jesus said those words to His disciples as He was sending them out, two-by-two, to preach that His kingdom was near. He told them to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons.” (Matt 10:8). Of course, His disciples had never done such things; and I am certain they had crippling doubts. But Jesus’ statement, “Freely you have received…” should have been enough to encourage them for the mission. He was telling them to remember everything that led to this moment—how each of them were chosen. How the Lord had provided for them since that day, how much they had learned, and the miracles they had witnessed. Everything came to them freely—that is, by God’s unconditional love and power.
We are vessels, are we not? I suppose we often think of the vessels (large jars) at the wedding in Cana, when Jesus changed water into wine. But I rather like to think of blood vessels because they are open at each end for a reason. In the one end they are receiving blood; out the other end they are giving. Likewise, Jesus said that He was the vine and we were the branches. Same principle: Life giving nutrients must be received from the Vine if we are to bear any fruit. Freely you have received; freely give. The order of things is important here, for you cannot give what you have not received. Receiving must come first; then giving. This is exactly what the Apostle John meant when he wrote, “We love because He first loved us.” He must love you first. And that love will change you from the inside out. Only then can you love others with His love.
Not long ago I preached a sermon called “Childish Ways,” recalling Jesus’ words that we must be like little children to enter the kingdom of God. Those children—maybe 4 or 5 years old—are completely dependent upon Mom and Dad. They are always receiving because that is the position they are in and they do not know enough to question that position. In fact, once a child realizes that mom and dad are the source of all good things, they keep coming to ask for more. That is a good thing.
The thing is, we never “grow up” in this kingdom relationship. I mean, we aren’t supposed to. After all, “Dad” in this case is Almighty God, and we are His sons. Yes, we are heirs of the kingdom and will one day see Him face-to-face, but in this life we “see things as in a glass, dimly.” We cannot possibly know what He knows, so we must stay close. This is especially true about each day. He has plans we don’t understand; He has business to take care of, and today—like every day—is “take your child to work day.” He plans to do His work through us. We hold His hand, walk along with Him, keep looking up to make sure its His hand we are holding. Hearing His voice is reassuring. We must abide close to Him if we are going to be able to give anything to the people of this world because He is the Source.
This illustration has its limits, though. We cannot really hold God’s hand, or look up at Him. We live by faith, not by sight. The translation here is that “holding His hand” is equal to reading the Bible every day. “Hearing His voice” is through prayer and conversation with the Lord. “Walking with Him” is through praise and thanksgiving. These things should be constant! This is not a burden; it is our privilege and joy to have access to the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have children of our own and we know that they need constant love, attention, food, and shelter. Missing these things is called “neglect” and can result in “failure to thrive.”
I know that, in this world, you are all adults. But in the kingdom of God, we are children, completely dependent upon the Triune God. To stray is to become weak and vulnerable. There is so much to learn, so much joy to be had, and such victory to behold. These are ours to take hold of every day.