Freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8.
Jesus gave His life for you. Like a child who has full confidence in his parents, and who is not troubled for fear of being taken advantage of and misused, you may rest in God with perfect confidence that He will be to you a friend and a helper....
It is not for you to expect every blessing of God and return nothing. Through Christ we possess all things; without Christ we should have had nothing but poverty, misery, and despair. Shall we respond to this love which Jesus has bestowed upon us? To be sons of God is to possess all things. What more can you want? If the Christian is not content with such an inheritance, nothing can give him contentment. We are indebted to the Lord for all we possess. Then let us return to the Giver all that He claims as His own. Let us not commit robbery toward God....
He who so loved man that He came from the realms of bliss, from His royal throne, and humiliated Himself to clothe His divinity with humanity, has given us unmistakable tokens of His love and the value He places upon man. He who has made for us this infinite sacrifice summons us to estimate the value of the soul, to strike the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure....
Christ points you away from the earthly to the heavenly. He invites you to lay up your treasures above.... Will you say as you present your offering to God, Of Thine own, O Lord, we freely give Thee? ... All the means you may give will not buy for you salvation. You must give yourself. In surrendering yourself to the claims and influences of the Saviour your life may be as a fruitful branch in a beautiful vine. The fruits of the Spirit may adorn it. Clusters of rich graces will appear, such as love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and meekness, which will make it attractive....
I entreat of you to send your treasure before you into heaven by using the Lord’s goods to advance His cause in the earth.... Settle your accounts with high heaven.
– e g white, our higher calling pg 305
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