Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

What are the constituent contents of “all things”? Is there a list of what we should expect to get by grace or do we make up our own list?

Matthew 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

My personal history says I didn’t know what is good for me.

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

What was the intent of those gracious gifts?

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

The intent is to give every gift of service to fulfill the will of the Father though His Son, Jesus Christ. We get all things needed to equip us for the ministry. It is the vanity of vanities to think we get everything we want.

What do I need to serve His will for me? Oops, I already have it or I would still be in training as one who is unfit to serve.

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,”

To know what is required of us is a progressive movement, from reverence, to obedience, to love, to serve. We don’t get to serve without experiencing love.

When we are born again we may have gratitude for the grace but that does not mean we know how to appreciate it to the point that we are ready to serve Him.

We cannot serve God without knowing what He is asking of us. “Everything” gets in the way of that knowledge. See Philippians 3:8

Genesis 6:5

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 7:23

He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

Genesis 11:6

And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Genesis 19:8

Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

Genesis 22:2

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Genesis 22:12

He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

In the ESV these are the first six uses of the word only. The KJV added one more in that order.

Genesis 14:18-24 King James Version

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 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, 23 That 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: 24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

If we were seeking a Word from the Lord and it was “only”. Which version of the bible will change our opportunities to be blessed in our search. Here we see the King of Peace for the first time listed after many sinful acts and before these precious words, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Sometimes discovering what the good Lord intends for us to hear is not to be found in easy answers. Seek Him.