Chris Bailey III - Beggars No More

Mark 15:37-38 KJV - 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Meditating on the life of Christ, I noted how He always teaches us to ask, but never to beg!

Matthew 7:7 KJV - 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Luke 11:9 KJV - 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

James 1:5 KJV - 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

While other Scriptures may encourage us to lean in or to persevere in prayer, we don't see the unction to beg because begging says as much about the beggar, as it does about the giver.  If God called us to beg, it would speak to the nature of His giving.  It makes it conditional, selective; which would make Him and every aspect of Him conditional, selective.  Nonsense!  Our Heavenly Father loves cheerful givers because they give like He gives!

Case in point...Mark 15.  When Jesus died on the cross, He gave on the cross.  The Scriptures record that He literally "gave up" His life.  The Son of God's very last breath was in itself a gift!  An offering to God and an offering for you.  Now the Father, Who has given up His only begotten Son, keeps giving...

Mark 15:38 KJV - 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

The curtain in the sanctuary in Jerusalem was completely torn from the top through to the bottom.  This thick, blood-soaked, red veil was totally shredded to remove the separation between the Most Holy Place, where the presence of God once dwelt, and the Holy Place, where the High Priest ministered as a representative of the people.  In symbol and in fact, there was no longer a barrier between us and God!  Where once there was a curtain, now there was Christ as the Way to the throne of God!

So with this path, paved in Jesus' own blood, to this God, Who gave His only begotten Son, do we now think that the attitude we should have is that of a beggar?  Hoping that maybe, just maybe, God might cut us a break if we ask right.  That "the Man upstairs" (a phrase I despise and a nickname that insults God) might throw us a bone if we bark louder?  Come on saints, we are beggars no more - we don't take a number!  If we receive Christ by faith, we have the Father in full!  Because of God's love and Christ's sacrifice, we don't beg, we believe! We don't bark, we behold!  We don't guess, we get!  We don't haggle, we hope!  We ask, not beg.  Whether God says yes, no, or wait is His business.  But us coming as children and not chattel (slaves), is ours!