GENEROSITY IS FULFILLING; GREED NEVER SATISFIES.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Luke 6:30-31, 38.
Verse of the Day: “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'” (Acts 20:35).
Only a few days had passed since Christmas, but Chris and Chad had already played with their new toys so much they’d grown tired of them.
Mom carried a large, empty box into the bedroom the kids shared. She sat down on the bottom bunk bed and told Chris and Chad about some children at a nearby home for the handicapped. “Most of the children only received a piece of fruit, a pair of socks, and a small toy on Christmas Day,” she said. “I bet we could fill this box with some of your new toys that those children would really love.”
Chris and Chad sat silently for a few moments. Then Chad said. “I know! I could give away my old Dino-bot! I never play with it anymore.” He scrambled over to the closet and pulled a motorized dinosaur out of a pile of old toys. It was missing a leg.
“Is that the kind of toy you would like to get?” Mom asked.
Chad looked at Mom with wide eyes. “You want us to give some of our new toys?”
Mom shrugged. “It’s just a suggestion,” she said. “I’m not saying you should give all your new toys away, but Jesus does say to do for others what you would like them to do for you.” She stood then and left the room.
Chad and Chris sat in silence for a few moments after Mom left. Then Chris gripped one of his new toys. “I still have the box for this!” he said. He put the toy and carton in the big box.
“Hey,” Chad said. “If you don’t want that, give it to me!”
“It’s not for you,” he said. “It’s for the kids at the handicap home.”
Chad shrugged, then after a pause, added one of his favorite toys to the box. By the time Mom returned to the room, the box contained several new toys. On the following day, Mom, Chad, and Chris drove together to the home and delivered the toys to some of the children, who received them with overwhelming joy and appreciation. As they left the home, Chad turned to Mom.
“Can we do this every year, Mom?” he asked.
“Yeah, can we do it before Christmas next year, so the kids can open their gifts on Christmas Day?” Chris asked.
“I didn’t think you boys were that excited about giving your toys away,” Mom said. “We weren’t at first,” Chad said, “but that was fun!” “Yeah,” Chris agreed. “That was a lot of fun!”
TO DISCUSS: Christmas is a time of year when it seems easy to be generous to other people; but when the Christmas decorations are all gone, we sometimes forget to be generous. Who can you be generous to today? Try to surprise someone with your generosity today.
TO PRAY: “Thank you for the joy of sharing with others, Lord. Everything we do, we want to do in your name.”
