Pam Padgett ... teacher
Deut. 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect
persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and
pervert the words of the righteous. 20 That which is altogether just
shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.
After considering this verse, I asked
God to please help me hate gifts from people. I was reminded of the following
...
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world.
The physical things that people give as
gifts are of this world, not of the Father. They have no eternal value.
These gifts can even be harmful to us as they subtly bind us to the
gift-giver, putting us in a position to be blinded and corrupted, rather than
being free to completely follow those things that are just and right in the
sight of God.
Rather than desiring things of this world, we are to set
our affection on things above ...
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on
the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him
in glory.
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(Comments by Joan Boney ... I do hate gifts! ... I hate give-a-ways offered by businesses ...I hate "free" things... These are traps that I try to avoid... I want my provision to be from God, not from man... And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Gen. 14:22-23)