GOD VALUES GENEROSITY BECAUSE HE IS A GIVING, GRACIOUS GOD.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 65:1, 9-13.
Verse of the Day: “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8, NIV).
Jenny held hands with her friend, Kris, and Kris’s mom and bowed her head. She felt odd as she listened to Kris’s dad pray, thanking God for the food on the table and for many other things as well.
When Kris’s dad said “Amen” and everyone raised his or her head, Jenny smiled nervously. “We don’t do that at my house,” she said.
“We always pray, especially before meals,” Kris said. “Sometimes Dad prays for hours!”
“Really?” Jenny asked seriously.
Kris and her parents laughed. “No,” Kris said. “It just seems like it.”
Jenny accepted a bowl of vegetables that Kris’s mom passed to her. She cleared her throat. “Why do you do it?”
Kris and her parents looked at Jenny with surprised expressions for a moment before Dad answered.
“We do it to give thanks to God for the food and everything he’s given us,” he said.
“After all,” Mom added, “God is so generous with his blessings.”
“What do you mean?” Jenny asked. “I mean,” she added sheepishly, “you paid for all this food, right?”
Dad nodded. “Yes, but God gave me the ability to work, and I believe he gave me the job I have.” He lifted a glass of water to his mouth and took a sip. “As a matter of fact,” he said thoughtfully, “his generosity is an important part of who he is. He’s not just generous sometimes, like when he feels like it. He is a gracious God, who is always giving.”
“And he gives us lots of things we could never earn,” Mom said. “Like the sunrise, the rain, the birds who sing outside our kitchen window, our families,… our friends.”
Kris nudged Jenny with her elbow. “You never thought of yourself as a gift from God, did you?”
Jenny smiled. “No,” she answered. “I never did. I’ll try to remember that.”
TO DO: Think about the gifts you have freely received. Make a list that you can add to whenever you think of something. Keep the list somewhere handy where everyone can add to it.
TO PRAY: “God, you are a gracious and generous God. You give us so much, we could never finish thanking you.”
