God’s Promise Arrives as a Pure Gift
Here’s how to receive it
When you receive a gift the keyword is ‘receive.’ You don’t work for a gift, earn a gift, beg for a gift, demand a gift, manifest a gift, or finagle a gift. You simply receive it. But human nature — particularly for those of us who are hard-wired to earn or prove our worth — drives us to think we have to work for what the Bible says is already ours in Christ.
Yes, most of us give a mental nod to the teaching that God’s promises and grace in our lives can’t be earned, but let’s be honest, most of us can still be caught hustling our way toward them.
What’s counterintuitive about how we receive God’s gifts and promises?
Take a look at Romans chapter four in The Message:
“If you’re a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it’s something only God can do, and you trust him to do it — you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked — well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.” (Romans 4:4–5, MSG)
