[lead]We are frequently hindered from loosening our grip and giving up our most adored treasures out of fear for their safety.[/lead] But we need not fear, for our Lord came not to destroy, but to save. Everything we commit to Him is safer than it is anywhere else. In fact, as A.W. Tozer points out in The Pursuit of God, nothing is really secure that is not committed to His care.
As is so often the case, God’s truth in this area is polar opposite of the world’s truth. While the world’s philosophy is to collect as much as possible here on earth (“He who dies with the most toys wins”), God’s Word says that what you surrender to Him now will be the only things that are safe throughout eternity. And the things that you squirrel away now “just to be safe” will be those things that never make the trip beyond the grave.
The things you squirrel away now “just to be safe” will be those things that never make the trip beyond the grave.
Everything’s On Loan
The embarrassing truth is that you don’t own anything at all. It is all on loan from above—your life, your spouse, your children, your home, your health, your investments, and even your next breath. And God has given them to you, not as possessions to keep and protect at all costs, but as property to be invested and managed on His behalf. There is no more secure place than in the nail-scarred hands of the Savior.
There is no more secure place than in the nail-scarred hands of the Savior.
And it is not just the things that you have, but your time and your talents … these are also “short-term loaners” from God. As Paul puts it:
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)
The answer is obvious. You have no reason to feel or act with an attitude of superiority because every good thing that you have, every good thing that you are, is yours only because God gave it to you.
No Room for Boasting
No drowning person, miraculously rescued after abandoning all hope, would dare get in front of a TV camera and boast about how wonderfully he or she played the part of the victim. Neither did Lazarus, upon his resurrection, run around Bethany bragging about his part in the miracle! So why should we boast when we having nothing to boast about? Is it not most reasonable that the One who so freely gives us all things, will also safely keep all things? As Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Is it not most reasonable that the One who so freely gives us all things, will also safely keep all things? —Ken Boa
Application
Meditate today on the implications of 1 Corinthians 4:7, “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”
Consider posting an index card or note somewhere in your home that says, “Everything is gift and grace,” to remind yourself that everything you have is a gift of God, given by His grace.
This article is adapted from Ken Boa’s teaching series on A.W. Tozer’s spiritual classic The Pursuit of God. Get the entire series here.
Loosening Your Grip
Library /
[lead]We are frequently hindered from loosening our grip and giving up our most adored treasures out of fear for their safety.[/lead] But we need not fear, for our Lord came not to destroy, but to save. Everything we commit to Him is safer than it is anywhere else. In fact, as A.W. Tozer points out in The Pursuit of God, nothing is really secure that is not committed to His care.
As is so often the case, God’s truth in this area is polar opposite of the world’s truth. While the world’s philosophy is to collect as much as possible here on earth (“He who dies with the most toys wins”), God’s Word says that what you surrender to Him now will be the only things that are safe throughout eternity. And the things that you squirrel away now “just to be safe” will be those things that never make the trip beyond the grave.
Everything’s On Loan
The embarrassing truth is that you don’t own anything at all. It is all on loan from above—your life, your spouse, your children, your home, your health, your investments, and even your next breath. And God has given them to you, not as possessions to keep and protect at all costs, but as property to be invested and managed on His behalf. There is no more secure place than in the nail-scarred hands of the Savior.
And it is not just the things that you have, but your time and your talents … these are also “short-term loaners” from God. As Paul puts it:
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)
The answer is obvious. You have no reason to feel or act with an attitude of superiority because every good thing that you have, every good thing that you are, is yours only because God gave it to you.
No Room for Boasting
No drowning person, miraculously rescued after abandoning all hope, would dare get in front of a TV camera and boast about how wonderfully he or she played the part of the victim. Neither did Lazarus, upon his resurrection, run around Bethany bragging about his part in the miracle! So why should we boast when we having nothing to boast about? Is it not most reasonable that the One who so freely gives us all things, will also safely keep all things? As Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Application
Meditate today on the implications of 1 Corinthians 4:7, “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”
Consider posting an index card or note somewhere in your home that says, “Everything is gift and grace,” to remind yourself that everything you have is a gift of God, given by His grace.
This article is adapted from Ken Boa’s teaching series on A.W. Tozer’s spiritual classic The Pursuit of God. Get the entire series here.
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