"Take, Take!"

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 5
 
A woman once went to a minister and said, “Sir, you are always saying, ‘Take, take!’ Is there any place in the Bible where it says, ‘Take,’ or is it only a word you use? I have been looking in my Bible and cannot find it.”
“Why,” said the evangelist, “the Bible is sealed with it! It is almost the last word in the Bible.”
Then he quoted Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17): “The Spirit and the bride say, come....And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
“Well,” she said, “I never saw that before. Is that all I have to do?”
“Yes, the Bible says so.”
And she took it right away!
All of us at some time in our lives have imagined that we had to give God something. And did you ever stop to ask yourself, Will God take it? Do not trust your own thoughts as to this question, for God cannot accept anything we have done or may do in the future as a means of salvation. God is the GIVER, we must be the receivers, and until we TAKE from Him, all the works of righteousness which we have done or can do are worthless in His holy eyes. And it is even worse than that, for in Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6) we read that “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”
Filthy rags! No, we cannot earn God’s favor, but we can receive it as a gift, for “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).