Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Zig Ziglar
Clinched Fists
Many years ago, I tried to give something to someone, and I can’t even remember who it was, but they clinched their fists so I couldn’t hand it to them. I wanted to bless them but they refused it and in this case, both of us missed out on a blessing. That’s because whoever receives is blessed, but the one who gives is blessed even more. If we are so tight-fisted that we don’t want to give to anyone, then God will not be able to put into our hands what He wants to bless us with, because clinched fists are not open hands to receive with.
Closed Hearts
If the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, we’ll be spilling out that love to all of those around us, but if our hearts are closed, we’ll not be able to receive much of anything from God. God wants our hearts tender and soft, not closed and calloused. That’s why God says through Paul that we’re new creations in Jesus Christ (2nd Cor 5:17). Our old heart, as hard as it was, wasn’t soft and pliable; therefore, we couldn’t receive God’s Word. With closed hearts, we’re limiting what God can do through us.
Being Stewards
What do we have that we did not receive from God (1st Cor 4:4)? The answer is, nothing? Name one thing that we have today that God has not provided for us? Since all that we have is from God, we are accountable to Him as His stewards. Some received talents and doubled them by using them, but some who received a talent simply buried it, but Jesus will require that of us someday (Matt 25:14-30). We’ll have to explain to Him why we never used what we’ve been given to help others, but only to help ourselves.
Conclusion
The late Zig Ziglar rightly said that “It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference,” because we cannot receive back from God when our fists are clinched; we cannot receive God’s Word if our hearts are closed; and we cannot expect to receive any reward from Christ if we’ve not used the talents we’ve been given to help others, so what you do not use, you lose.
