1401. Don’t Hoard Your Blessings

Last week we saw how Mary’s devotion to Jesus was an act or worship that brought a smile to Jesus’s face. The article contrasted our focus on successful service with pure devotion of Jesus. Today we’ll look at David’s similar act (2 Sam. 23:15-17). Three of David’s men risked their lives to bring their leader water from the well at Bethlehem. When they gave it to David, he realized what he had done and poured it out unto the Lord. His epiphany was meant to be ours as well: We can never sanctify to God anything we have used to please ourselves. If we satisfy ourselves with a blessing from God, it will corrupt us. We must, in a sense, sacrifice it by pouring it out. Mary had also learned this lesson.

Our problem is that we tend to keep God’s blessings for ourselves. When we do, we put those we love in danger as well as ourselves. David had put his dear friends in danger, and he had risked his relationship with God. He didn’t let his physical thirst get the best of him. The reason hoarding God’s blessings is dangerous is because hoarded blessings turn to lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (James 1:15).

You may wonder why God would bless you with something if He didn’t want you to enjoy it. I think the point is that we will receive a greater reward and a greater and more profound joy when we pour our blessings out by using them to bless someone else. The most sour and bitter people we know are those who have hoarded God’s blessings for themselves. The sweetest and most joyful people we know are those who have poured their blessings into others. Luke 6:38 tell us how this works:

Give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.

Jesus came as a servant, always looking out for the needs of others. He knew that all things belonged to Him. Yet He willingly gave up all His privilege to be a servant. If you are a genuine follower of Christ, all that Christ has is now yours. He has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in heaven (Eph. 1:3), and He has already given us everything pertaining to life and godliness in the knowledge of God (2 Peter 1:3).

The most miserable Christians are those who aren’t interested in what God calls a blessing. They want to define the blessing, and it’s always something that feeds their lust for something that elevates them and makes them feel good. The fact that their version of blessings has made them a miserable person doesn’t faze them. They find a twisted sense of satisfaction in making those around them as miserable as they are. This is why nobody want to be around them.

The lesson is clear. Don’t hoard your blessings. Irrepressible joy awaits you if you pass them on to others.