Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Alistair Begg
Clenched Fists
Clenched fists are not able to receive anything, including blessings, because they’re closed. It takes an open hand to receive back from God; but if we’re holding onto everything tightly, God can’t place His blessings into our hands. Why not hold everything loosely so that you can receive freely what God wants to bless you with?
Open Hands
When we pray to God, we often are petitioning God for some need; but if we’re not praying with open hands, we can’t take what God has for us. Why would God bless us if we don’t share what we already have with those who have needs? It is not the way God works. We are commanded to serve one another and to love one another. Further, Jesus said we are to “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38), but that’s not possible with closed fists and laps that are full.
Giving Back
Why wouldn’t we want to give back to others with what God’s blessed us? How often have we seen a need and then closed our eyes and hearts to that need? I know I have. James wrote that “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). It is a sin of omission but a sin nonetheless. Never resist a generous impulse. God may be prompting you by His Spirit to give back to those who have little so that we might also receive back from God His very best blessings.
Conclusion
Alistair Begg’s comment that we should “hold material goods and wealth on a flat palm and not in a clenched fist” is for our own good because clenched fists cannot receive what an open hand can. And if we don’t give, we miss the blessings that God desires to pour into our lap, running over. To see a need and do nothing about it is sin. Besides, it’s in our best interest to give so that we might receive back from God His great blessings.
