What Can We Give?

Psalms 116:12-13 What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.

Sorrow, trouble, and death surround us every day. Trials, tribulations, and persecutions, crouch around the corner. Yet, those of us who know Jesus, and trust Him at His Word, know that all of this is temporary, and that none of those things catch the Lord by surprise; nor do they get by Him without His approval. So, like the psalmist, rather than put our focus on the difficulties of life, we can instead place our focus on loving Jesus and asking, "Lord, what can we give?" Well, to begin with, in order to be in a position to give, we must first receive. Yes, I know that this is contrary to, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35) However, that's not what I speak of at this moment. What I am saying is that in order for us to give anything worth giving, we must first receive the cup of salvation that Jesus offers. It is a cup we cannot earn, and a cup that began as the bitter cup that Jesus drank at Calvary, then filled it with the blessed salvation that became our benefit. So, what can we give in return? I say that we give a life for a life. Just as He gave us His life, and died in our place, we now have the opportunity, in Him, to be the living sacrifices that the Apostle Paul beseeched us to be in Romans 12:1-2. What can we give? We can give the fruit of our lips, thanksgiving and praise, that are now acceptable to give, because we received what Jesus first gave. What can we give? We can give our life by taking up our cross daily, dying to the world and the lusts of our flesh, and be alive to God and His service. We can, by faith, give whatever Jesus asks of us, because in Him we can do all things that He calls us to do or give. Let us be like the one leper, out of the ten that Jesus healed, in Luke 17:12-19, who turned back and glorified God in a loud voice, and fell down at Jesus' feet to give thanks. The bottom line is that the best answer to the question of what we can give, is to give it all, because He gave it all for us.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 7:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).