What Do I Have That I Have Not Received?

About twenty years after Jesus died and resurrected, Paul is writing his first letter to the Christian church in Corinth. He uses his fellow apostle Apollos, as well as himself, to help the Corinthians understand an extremely vital principle. Paul just finished getting on to them for basically finding their identity in which of the apostles they followed and subsequently getting jealous and fighting over it all. He advises them just to see them as mere servants of Christ and not as some kind of spiritual elite since, by the grace of God, the Gospel belongs to everyone equally. The apostle goes on to express how humanity’s judgments of itself are of little value in comparison to the righteous examination of the heart—a descendant of 1 Samuel 16:7.

“So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.” –1 Cor. 4:5

     Calling back to his point in the previous chapter, Paul reinforces that the Scriptures themselves make it clear that being proud of one leader at the expense of another is not right.

     “For what gives you the right to make such a judgment?” He asks. This is the first of the three soul shattering questions that make up verse 7. For now, let’s focus on the second.

“What do you have that God hasn’t given you?” –1 Cor. 4:7b

     The NKJV translation reads in the much more poetic “what do you have that you have not received?” What reality bending question. How many times in the last five minutes have you had a single active thought about the fact that you’re still breathing? When you woke up this morning, were you pleasantly surprised? I bet you weren’t expecting to randomly breathe your last in your sleep. Why would you? Why would anyone? 

     We’ve gone to sleep every night and wake up every morning for the past however we’ve been alive. It’s just the way it is. Excluding the exceptions for the sake of the point, it’s normal for all of us to wake up in the morning, go about our day in relative normalcy, and then head to bed with full expectation of waking up again the next day. Why? Because it’s just happened all this time? Is that all it takes to be entitled to another day of life?

     The Bible presents a profoundly simple heart check for the authenticity of one’s humility. How would you live your life if you really believed that everything you have had been received—“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father.” –James 1:17a

     It may seem like yet another droning reminder to be grateful, but I’d wager this is a moment of truth where you can either make the time to take a good look at how you live your everyday life or just let out another empty “mm” of shallow agreement. Next time you wake up, praise the Lord. When you breathe without relative trouble, praise the Lord. When you still have functioning taste buds to enjoy your food, praise the Lord. When you have the eyes to see or the lungs to laugh, praise the Lord YHWH Tsebaoth!

Did I will myself to conception? Did I will myself to birth? Did I will my body to function or my consciousness to develop? Can I simply choose whether or not something makes me happy or sad or angry? Is not the very fact that I have been pulled out of the ashes of my darkest nights of the soul to write this message proof that the God who both made the universe and numbers every hair on your head really does provide everything we need? I don’t know about you, but I’d call that good news :)

     For what do I have that I have not received? May His will be done.