“Go ahead. Do what you want to do. You will just have to learn for yourself. I have done all I can.” I imagine every parent has either thought this or told their children this at some point. My children still tell us the most feared words from their Mom and me were, “Ok, we are turning you over to God.” We never desired our children have painful experiences. But sometimes letting them go their own way resulting in discomfort was the only way for them to learn from their mistakes and return to the Christian values we were trying to teach them.
Even, God as our Heavenly Father does the same thing. When Paul wrote to the Roman church, he told them three times in chapter one that God had “given over” individuals to their own sinful ways (vv 24, 26, 28). If they did not learn and turn back to the LORD, He gave them over to a worst level of sin until He finally turned them over to a reprobate mind. God was not forcing them when He gave them over, but rather releasing them to their own sinful ways so they might reach the point of realizing their need of repentance. The prodigal son came to his senses in the pig’s pen. I will write more on these levels later, but for now, I want to show where this decline toward the pit of a reprobate mind began.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks (v21). The path of spiritual decline before God turns someone over, starts simply with not honoring God and not giving Him thanks. If we catch ourselves grumbling or being unthankful, this should serve as a wakeup call. Not honoring God, for who He is, can lead to dishonoring His Word through disobedience. Being unthankful for what we already have, physically, mentally, or materially, can lead to covetousness and greed. I have heard people say, “Well, I don’t have anything to be thankful for.” My reply is, if you are still breathing, you have something for which you can give God thanks. In the absolute sense, God does not need anything. He already has everything. Yet, He does desire our blessing, our thanks, our ministry to Him, and honor for who He is. Giving Him these things constitutes worship.
In the past few weeks, I have read several articles from well-known and trusted ministers warning Christians concerning the self-centeredness many are teaching today. “LORD, bless me!” “LORD, minister to me!” “LORD, give me.” “LORD, I want more!” My thought this week is just the opposite. Instead of focusing on receiving from the LORD, we should focus on giving to Him. Twenty-three times the Bible says individuals or those gathered for worship, Blessed the LORD. The word of bless means kneel (down), praise, salute, and thank. Instead of asking for a blessing, they were blessing the LORD.
The verse that recently caught my attention is Act 13:2. Prophets and teachers at the church in Antioch, including Paul and Barnabas, were ministering to the Lord. Note, it does not say the Lord was ministering to them. Rather they were ministering to the Lord. The word used for ‘ministering’ denotes the duties and activities of the priest in the temple. In Roman government, the word was “one servicing in a public office at their own expense.” They were offering something at no cost and not expecting to receive anything in return. Since the word has such a broad meaning, we cannot determine exactly what the leaders in the church at Antioch were doing. However, we can conclude they were doing it to or for the LORD, expecting nothing in return from Him.
Just this week I have seen two new books telling the reader how to release God’s blessing on their life. I also played my game of flipping through the religious channels. Several times during the week, I would surf the Christian channels but would remain no more than 60 seconds. Not once, did I not hear about receiving a blessing from God, about finances, or getting what you want from God, etc. Be assured God wants to bless us and supply all our needs. The problem is when our sinful nature deceives us, and we slowly begin serving God only to receive from Him and stop giving Him honor and thanks. I have caught myself not giving thanks and realized I had started focusing on me instead of Him. I had to repent and return to God’s central purpose for me in this life—to glorify (honor) and to give thanks to Him. The blessing for us is when we make Him the focus of our lives, our thoughts, and our actions; He will supply everything we need. Plus, there is no chance of Him turning us over to our own ways because our ways are His ways.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
Give honor and thanks to God. If you realize your pray life could be summed up, ‘LORD bless me, myself, and I. Amen!’, start praying, LORD, I bless you, I give thanks to you, and I will minster to you through all I do.