Given To...
Recently, a passage of scripture struck me as a bit funny. We always assume that we are given things. But scripture talks about things we should be ‘given to.’ I must have been rather tired because I envisioned myself wrapped in a box with only my hands, feet, and head sticking out, wrapped in shiny Christmas paper with a huge, rather ridiculous bow on top!
Indeed, what would someone be getting if I was ‘given to’ them as a gift? This week they might quickly line up in the returns department with this ‘gift!’ Thanks to a sick relative, a rather sticky situation at work, a migraine, and not enough hours of sleep, I have been a walking whine factory! And I don’t mean wine and cheese, if you please!
‘Given to’ in this sense does not indicate that you are handed to someone neatly wrapped, however! To be given to something is to be addicted to it. Essentially, it means to be devoted without restraint. Wow! What a concept!
As I studied this particular phrase, I found more do not’s than do’s!
For instance, we are not to be given to:
• Appetite, be it for food, wealth, or material possessions. Essentially, we should not live our lives to please our flesh’s selfish whims! Proverbs 23:2
• We are not to be given to change or even associate with those who are. As God said, “I am the Lord and I change not.” We must hold onto the old paths of truth, remaining unswayed by modern fads and fashions! Proverbs 24:21 and Malachi 3:6
• Isaiah admonished that we are not to be addicted to pleasures, living carelessly in Isaiah 47:8 while Jeremiah cautioned against being covetous because it makes you deal falsely with your brother. We are to have sincere and honest intentions; we can’t do that when we are trying to defraud our neighbor! Jeremiah 6:13, 8:10
• In the New Testament, the list continued: Paul, writing to Timothy, warned that we are not to be given to wine, greed of dirty money, or gossip (1 Timothy 3:3, 8). Consider again the definition of being ‘given to’ a thing.
• Evidently, there were people then—and still are today—who are addicted to food, wealth, having their own way, being a free spirit, changing the gospel to fit their whims, envying the possessions of others, liquor, and gossip!
How sad…how empty their lives must be.
For one’s life to revolve around gossip; somehow I envision an embittered, old woman who was never able to be satisfied in her own life so she finds solace and fulfillment in destroying the lives of others through her tongue. What an addiction!
And what about being addicted to money, wealth, and covetousness? What kind of life do you truly have if you are addicted to insatiable appetite…unable to be filled, to be whole, to feel complete without constantly wanting more!
Interestingly, God provides the DO in the equation as well as the DON’Ts!
Romans 12:13 calls us to be “given to hospitality.”
Likewise, 1 Timothy 3:2 admonishes those who pastor that they are to be “blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.”
Let’s break it down.
To be given to hospitality means to be addicted to or to be devoted without restraint to:
• Kindness, receptiveness
• Opening yourself, your home, your vehicle, and your life to others
• And Having a welcoming disposition
And, we find, that if we will be given to the things God prescribes that we will have no need for the addictions we just listed. In fact, giving in itself is satisfying.
You don’t have to have to most beautiful and expensive home when you’re busy making it comfortable for a house full of guests. What good would priceless vases and fragile antiques do in a crowd full of friends?
You don’t need to fill your hours and your emptiness with food or wine when you have opened your arms to those in need. Instantly, you have purpose, meaning, and friendship! Comfort food is hardly needed when we are given to loving people!
You don’t need to be addicted to wealth because when you give to others, they will, likewise, be there for you when you are in need. And…God, who sees all, will honor you openly even when your hospitality is given in secret. He will supply your every need!
You’ve no need for gossip to fill your hours or earn listening ears when you work toward bettering others’ lives by giving yourself. You no longer sit on the sidelines, looking on at those who are working in the church. You are the mover and shaker yourself, winning souls by your obvious love and care for them!
So what kind of gift would you make? Are you a friend whose kitchen is always open for a warm and compassionate chat, whether dishes are stacked to the ceiling or not? Are you the sister who can pinch hit in just about any situation because people and their problems matter to you?
Is your home the one that people rush to for Bible study because they know they’ll be greeted with munchies and good coffee—even if it can’t be homemade due to your busy schedule? Are you the one who enters the church house to a swarm of hugs, returns from all of those you’ve given?
In short…
Are you given to hospitality?
