For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Corinthians 4:7
“Let me exhort you to take this seriously. It is not to be understood as mere Bible teaching to be stored away in the mind along with an inert mass of other doctrines. It is a marker on the road to greener pastures, a path chiseled against the steep sides of the mount of God. We dare not try to bypass it if we would follow on in this holy pursuit. We must ascend a step at a time. If we refuse one step we bring our progress to an end…
There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in life. Because it is so natural it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is; but its outworkings are tragic. We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears.
Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed. Our gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. They should be recognized for what they are, God’s loan to us, and should never be considered in any sense our own. We have no more right to claim credit for special abilities than for blue eyes or strong muscles.”
A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in The Pursuit of God, excerpt from Chapter Two, “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing,” 11-12.
Modern day Americans often remind me of the Corinthians of the first century. While I could recount many sins of both groups, one of the most noteworthy is the possessive clinging to things. Back then, the Apostle Paul exhorted them to quit boasting because no measure of wealth made them any different from anyone else. Everything they had they received from God. The same is true for us today! So what are we to do with all that God has given us?
Tozer rightly notes a key step in our spiritual maturity is committing all we are and all we have to God. Fear holds us back from this, so he keenly states that God is the only safe place to commit ourselves and everything we possess. All we have is merely on loan from God anyway. Let’s resolve to stop possessively clinging to things! Why do this? As Tozer puts it, “the blessedness of having nothing” positions us to take hold of life the Kingdom!