Chasing the Gift, Ignoring the Giver
Most chase after the gift without knowing the Gift Giver. They want the blessing, the breakthrough, the anointing, but they have no relationship with the One who holds it all. They want power but will not submit. They want increase but refuse obedience. They want miracles but avoid the cross.
This is not new. Jesus dealt with it firsthand. In John 6, he had just fed thousands with a few loaves and fish. The crowd was in awe. They tracked him down the next day, looking for more. But Jesus did not entertain their hunger for miracles. He called them out:
“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” John 6:26
They did not want him. They wanted what he could do for them. And when he told them that the real gift was himself, the bread of life, they walked away. Thousands who had just experienced a miracle turned their backs because they were not interested in Jesus, just the benefits.
That same spirit is rampant today. People chase after platforms, prophecies, and prosperity but have no hunger for presence. They want to hear, “Your season of favor is here,” but will not open the word to hear what God actually says. They treat him like a vending machine, put in a little prayer, pull a lever of faith, and expect immediate payout. But Jesus is not a means to an end. He is the end.
What Happens When the Gifts Stop
Let’s get real. If your relationship with God is built on what he does for you, what happens when he does not do what you expect? When healing does not come? When doors do not open? When favor looks like suffering? Do you walk away like the crowd in John 6?
Job lost everything, wealth, children, health, but his response was unshaken:
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job 13:15
That is the posture of someone who knows the giver. That is the faith of someone who worships God for who he is, not for what he gives.
Paul understood this too. He carried the power of God, saw miracles, walked in the gifts, but what was his greatest desire?
“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:8
Knowing him, not just using him.
The Warning of Matthew 7
Jesus makes a chilling statement in Matthew 7:22 to 23:
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Let that sink in. They had gifts. They prophesied. They cast out demons. They worked miracles. And yet, Jesus says he never knew them.
That should terrify anyone who treats God like a spiritual ATM. Gifts do not equal intimacy. Power does not equal relationship. You can be used by God and still be a stranger to him.
What Are You Chasing
If you lost every blessing, would Jesus still be enough? If the miracles stopped, if the provision dried up, if the doors never opened, would your pursuit of him remain?
This is the call, stop chasing what is in his hand and start seeking his face. The gift means nothing without the giver. And the only ones who will endure, the only ones who will stand before him unashamed, are those who chose him over everything else.
Seek first the kingdom. Seek first the king. Everything else is secondary.
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