Practical Conversations With Our Young People: Questions

 •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 4
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What is a Christian?
He is one who has received God's gift of a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." (2 Cor. 9:1515Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15).)
Where did you receive the faith to take God's Savior?
It was God's gift to you. "Ye are saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8).)
How did you receive the Holy Spirit?
He was given to you of God. "Who hath. given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." (2 Cor. 1:2222Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:22).)
Where do you get the means to supply your daily returning needs?
From whence do you receive everything that you count worth while?
From God! "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why lost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:77For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (1 Corinthians 4:7).)
Now young Christian, from the very start of your Christian life, God has been giving for you, and to you. Yes, blessed be His name! He has been giving, giving, GIVING, from Calvary's cross with the gift of His Son, to each breath of fresh air you breathe, and each morsel of food that you eat. But is God to do all the giving? Are we to sit like young birds in the nest, with ever strained necks and gaping beaks, crying, "More! more! more!"? Ah, no, young Christian, God expects some response from your heart- some return for His generosity. Did you never hear the Lord say, "Freely you have received, freely give"?(Matt. 10:88Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8).) The Christian life does not consist alone in receiving, but in giving, giving, giving. God's order is that they "first gave their own selves to the Lord," and then their substance, their possessions; (2 Cor. 8:55And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. (2 Corinthians 8:5).)
Why does a Christian work? Is it only to make an honest living? No-not if we believe what God says, "Let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." (Eph. 4:2828Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. (Ephesians 4:28).) Yes. young Christian, in God's mind you are not laboring in order that you may make a living, but in order that you may have to give.
How much are you giving to the Lord? Take a pencil and paper and do a little figuring. Are you earning a dollar a week? How much of it goes to the Lord? Does He receive ten cents of it? That would be forty cents a month-or four dollars and eighty cents a year. Did you actually give that much to the Lord this past year? Maybe you are earning more than this-say, five dollars per week. If you were under the law you would be compelled to give two dollars per month or twenty-four dollars per year to the Lord. Ask your own heart the question-Did the Lord get twenty-four dollars from my pocket this past year?
Did you ever hear of a young Christian who actually spent more for his shoes, or his hats during a year than he did for the Lord? Some of us have met young Christians whose salaries amounted to one hundred dollars per month. How much did the Lord get? How much of the pay check went into the box Lord's Day morning? Was it only a poor silver dollar, out of the hundred? Do you think the Lord is pleased with one per cent generosity?
If you honestly want to give to the Lord, it must be at a cost to yourself. There must be self-sacrifice. God's way is not for us to take out all we want for ourselves, and the give some to Him. It is that we should first sacrifice for Him, and then see to our own needs. There is a positive exhortation in God's We. that says, "Upon the first day of the week 1, every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him." (1 Cor. 16:22Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2).) Have you ever heeded this plain Scripture? O, young. Christian, in the light of the soon coming of Christ, compare your weekly, monthly, or yearly income with the amount you are consecrating for the Lord's service, and come to a knowledge in the presence of God as to where you stand in this very important truth of Christian giving. When He comes, may we not be ashamed before Him "who loved me, and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20).)