Giving All We Have; Receiving All We Need
Giving All We Have; Receiving All We Need
On a recent Sunday my family had arranged time away from our church after my wife’s knee surgery. We woke up a bit later than our normal Sunday time and I fixed breakfast before we read through a devotion for our worship time. We worshipped, prayed, and had a short “home-church” service in our pajamas. Our time was fruitful and even necessary, but it was not the same as being at Effingham ARP. We were missing a few ingredients.
Dr. Mark Ross writes that in a church body,
“We must give of ourselves all that we have to give in order to receive all that we need” (Associate Reformed Quarterly, Aug 2, 2015 p.27).
The Body of Christ functions best when every single part is giving and receiving in a balanced ebb and flow. Some days we give more than we receive and other days we receive more than we give. We’re always giving and receiving together.
My family enjoyed our personalized church service over waffles, but we were separated from our normal routine of giving and receiving alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ. We weren’t filled up or flowing out to our full potential as part of a family of God. While this was fine for a little while, I know that our spiritual muscles would atrophy after too long in isolation.
As God’s Word reminds us,
“The body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Cor. 12:14).
There are times when illness or family needs prevent someone from giving and receiving along with other members of Christ’s Body. But on those days when we simply want to sleep a little longer or get an early start on the lake, perhaps we sense that there is something missing.
It is that longing of the Body, desiring to give all that is has so it can receive all that it needs.
In Him,
