Matthew 10:7–8 (NKJV): As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Jesus. Matthew 10:7–8
Hey, I’m Nathan, and this is Day 12 of 30 Days Watching Jesus. Jesus gives a
mission mandate to his followers: “Freely you have received, freely give.” This is the Jesus way: freely. How often, we prefer to filter who and how we bless. We insert our criteria of worthiness into every interaction with others—often raising the bar so high that we find few whom we believe worthy of our aid. This is not the Jesus way.
Freely, is. What we have received—all of those benefits we count for ourselves—have been lavishly, freely given. Whatever we think we may do—or have done—to earn such liberal favor, is a dark, wild delusion. We have because we have been given it freely. No pre-quals. No earned dividends. Just freely. Most often we are reluctant to give freely because we imagine what we have has not been free, but earned. This delusion must be abandoned. We must learn to receive and bask in the freely-given grace of God—that we may intern give freely to all others. To give away does not reduce what we have freely received, it makes room for more.
