Friday, January 09, 2015

Tell Me If You Can



 
What is a gift?
Is it a myth?
How does one get it?
Is it given on merit?

Does it depend on diligence?
Or is it maintained by vigilance?
Must I strive so to keep?
Never a wink, shut-eye or sleep?

To whom is it given?
To those who have striven?
To those who have worked hard?
But not to me, a simple retard?

What is it really?
Do some get it clearly?
Do some have it just barely?
While others not even nearly?

Tell me, what really is a gift?
Should its offer cause a rift?
Between the ‘we have’ and ‘they have-not’?
And the ‘want to be’ and the ‘only we got’?

Is a gift so divisive?
To cause sharp tongue so incisive?
Does it make one abusive?
Of those considered non-inclusive?

Is a gift given for a time?
Then exchanged for a lime?
Does it have a cost?
And can it be lost?

Can I keep the gift?
Though I sometimes go adrift?
Can I maintain its possession?
Even in times of my transgression?

Can I keep its treasure?
Though I incur the giver’s displeasure?
Is it easy to lose?
When wrong I choose?

How much wrong must I do?
To lose it, tell me, can you?
And if I do, is there still hope?
Do tell, what must I do to cope?

This gift, must it be bought?
Is it also for the distraught?
Is it for the rich and wealthy?
And them that are spiritually healthy?

Is it free and available?
Or is it only for the able?
Is it for the who-so-ever?
Or for some: never, never?

For this gift what is my debit?
Is there nothing to my credit?
Is there nothing, no, not a trace?
Is there nothing in my space?

Did you say there’s news for me?
That some one has paid my fee?
That the gift to me is free?
That it is mine eternally?


That no man can take it away?
Not now, not tomorrow, not today?
In whose care then am I kept?
Who watched over while I slept?

Is it not God who gave it to me?
Is it not Christ who paid my fee?
Is it not the Spirit who lives in me?
This gift is forever, can’t you see?


Offered to me, how could I refuse?
Understanding how could I not choose?
Why now would He take it away?
Could I be saved yesterday but lost today?

How long is eternal life?
Could it end with some evil strife?
Does God have to wait?
To see if one will be late?

Does He take it away then give it back?
Is one born again and again, something like that?
How much does one sin before he is lost?
What is backsliding, what does it cost?

Can you answer all these?
Tell me, can you, please, please?
Can you tell who’s lost and who’s saved?
Is one saved just because one behaved?

By His mercy was I not justified?
By His grace am I not sanctified?
By His love am I not satisfied?
So where can I run away to hide?

Does He not supply me day by day?
Does He not guide me along the way?
Is His banner over me not love?
Does He not watch me from above?

Does He not find in me a home?
And promised never to leave me alone?
Why should I fear that I might slip?
And thus forever lose my grip?

Is it not God who holds my hand?
Is it not God in whom I stand?
Why should I fear when He is near?
Why should I doubt when He is here?

Of His forgiveness can I be sure?
Or is He looking for something more?
Can I on Him completely depend?
Or like some just merely pretend?

What is a gift I ask again?
Are you still struggling to explain?
Have you by faith its treasures claim?
Are you convinced that He can sustain?

Will you in him place your trust?
Will you shed the doubt and skip the fuss?
Will you walk with Him as he with you?
Will you rest in Him to see you through?

Is there another question to ask?
Will this job be an unfinished task?
Can I ask one last question of you?
Is working to keep a gift still your view?


Stewart Russell © 2013

1 comment:

  1. I will add a couple more questions for you:
    Is the gift despised or trivialized?
    Is the gift so precious that we put it in a "drawer" for safe keeping for fear of losing or damaging same? Are we so "confident" in Jesus that we believe it is okay to live like slugs because He will always be there to pick up our messes no matter how presumptuously we tempt the Lord FORGETTING or IGNORING the fact that our part of the bargain is to walk by faith in the Light, and that we should not indulge in the sin of presumption, testing the Holy Spirit?

    Lest we forget, one hymn-writer stated it most poignantly, in part:

    "Father, LEAD me day by day
    Ever in THINE own sweet way
    TEACH me to be PURE and TRUE
    SHOW me what I ought to do.

    When I’m TEMPTED to do wrong
    MAKE ME STEADFAST, WISE AND STRONG
    And when all alone I stand
    SHIELD me with Thy mighty hand."

    Christ, Himself, is the giver of all good and perfect gifts! If we esteem the Giver, we esteem the Gift!

    If we "believe" that the giver could have given a better, more perfect gift, we deny the value of the gift because it is not "all that!"

    Gift-givers do not owe gift-recipients anything! Love/Caring freely gives!

    A thankful heart accepts the gift in the spirit intended and holds that gift up to its friends and family and relations, i.e., the world, as a gift worthy of giving up one's current profligate life to keep it i.e., new life, safe, and above reproach, even though one may stumble along on the straight and narrow way. One endures all to save what is most precious! No hurt is too painful, nor self-denial too burdensome to keep what has been given.

    The Master, Himself,said:

    Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that ENDURETH to the end shall be saved.

    James 1:12 Blessed is the man that ENDURETH temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

    Matthew 24:13
    But he that shall ENDURE unto the end, the same shall be saved.

    As we can see, it is not about working to receive "the saving (gift)," it is about ENDURING the struggle to its bitter end, and at the end of it all, after battle scars, spilt blood, broken bones, hopes, dreams, and empty human-given promises, to receive that most precious gift - long held in promissory note (bible) form, written in Life of Christ-Blood ink, and tied up with the "string of faith" - Eternal Life with Christ!"

    Lord, by Your Grace, with Your Mercy, under the Agency of the Holy Spirit, help us to hold fast to our confession of faith, and to endure ... to the end to receive the Newness of Life. AMEN

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