Open Your Hands

Negatively, the eighth commandment prohibits taking anything that doesn’t belong to us. Ephesians 4:28 explains the positive side of the commandment: we should instead work diligently for what we have and then share it generously with others. The image of open hands captures both sides of obedience: neither grasping nor clinging, but receiving, moving, stewarding and sharing. In a fallen world marked by futility and inequality, keeping the eight commandment requires deep confidence in the open-handed generosity of God. We must believe that God created this world filled with blessings for us to enjoy, that in Christ he has already blessed us with spiritual abundance, and that one day he will return and share unimaginable spiritual and material blessings with us.