Handful Of Cookies
By Elijah Raines
I walked up to my car a few years ago with a handful of cookies and I
said to my kids, “what do you say?” If I remember correctly my
youngest daughter was 3 years old, she was so exited and you could see
it in her face trying to think of the right word. All of the sudden
like she was on a race to say the right word before her sisters she
yelled out, “Mine!”
This is one of those stories that gets retold and if you knew my
daughter you would not be surprised by this story as it fits her
personality; she is quick in word and deed.
I have often thought about this story in light of our relationship
with God. It says in the Bible (Psalm 50:10) that God owns the cattle
on a thousand hills and we also know that it says in James 4:3 “When
you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that
you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Jesus said in John
15:8: “It is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit.”
Does this give us license to grab and say “MINE”?
It says in Proverbs 23:7 “As a man sees himself, so is he.” Let’s
take it a step further and say how we see God is what we receive in
our relationship with God.
Do we see God as a task master, caring more about what you do
than he cares for you? Certainly not. Sometimes we may know the right
answer, but somewhere deep in our hearts we are still trying to get
approval and trying to work hard enough to get the free gift.
Gifts have to be received, not grabbed, and the gift of salvation
is free... “So that no man can boast”. John 3:16,17 says, “For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.”
Like salvation, God’s day to day provision has to be received as a
gift, not grabbed, not worked for, but received. Like I said earlier
how we see God is how receive from God. Do we see a God that is
waiting for us to measure up to a standard, or do we think that we
have to grab the blessing before it sprouts wings and flies away.
God is a God who blesses his people with salvation, health,
provision, wisdom, sound mind, family. We all have a place and a
belonging in the family of God. God does not put a cap on how much we
receive from him, but we do, and that has to do with our belief of God
or our own sin.
Do we see God with all we need in his hands where all we need to
do is receive? We are not worthy of the gifts that he gives, and that
is why all we can do is say, “Please, Lord Jesus”.
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