Devotional Thoughts for the Week of November 29, 2020 - True Thanks Leads to Giving
This year for many of us, giving thanks looked a little different. We celebrated in smaller groups, and perhaps the mood was a little more somber than usual. Yet even in these circumstances, we find ourselves with countless reasons to give thanks. As we stop to consider the blessings of family and friends, of health and homes and comforts and abundant food even in 2020, we stand amazed. To give thanks is to acknowledge that all of this has come from a Source other than ourselves. We give or thanks to the One who has given so much to us.
Recognizing how much God has entrusted to us as His servants is very sobering when we consider Jesus’ parables in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27. Jesus taught that we have been loaned resources which we are to be investing for the glory of God and the benefit of His kingdom. In the parables Jesus referred to money, but He has also entrusted us with time, skills, opportunities, etc. According to the parable, rewards and assignments (or loss of rewards) in heaven will be directly related to the ways we have invested the things entrusted to our care on earth. In fact, of the three servants mentioned, the only one who heard his Master say “Well done My good servant” was the one who earned ten times the amount entrusted to him (Luke 19:17). As we ponder the teaching of our Lord we come to understand the things God has given us are not just a gift, they are a serious responsibility. Each of us will be called to give an account of what we have done with what we have been given. Will He call us wicked servants for squandering that which we received, as He did with the third servant who failed to invest what he was given?
We live in a world full of pain and distress. 2020 has brought record-breaking hurricanes and other tropical storms, flooding, deadly earthquakes and wildfires. Thousands of homes have been leveled to piles of rubble or ash. The pandemic has left millions sick and thousands grieving. Countless more are isolated, fearful, and desperately lonely. People around the globe continue to lose their jobs, businesses, and homes. Millions have no reliable access to food or clean water. I recently heard an estimate that 90% of people in the world do not even own a bed. There are approximately 12,000 kids in foster care in Michigan alone. So many more are homeless or enslaved by human traffickers. The need is unimaginably great.
And yet, the vast majority of the time we go about our daily lives with no thought at all to the needs of all these people. How much money will we spend in the next month on food, gifts, and decorations for people who are in need of nothing at all? If we truly have the heart and mind of Christ, we must do more than just say “Thank You” on Thursday and move on to black Friday. We have received in order that we may give. We are to be using His resources to love people created in His image for His glory. Perhaps the annual income you earn is intended to support two families, or even three or four. God’s people are to be continually expressing His love in what we say and what we do. What could we be doing that He would call “well done” when He returns? As I sit in my warm house on my comfortable couch, with my stomach full and more food cooking for tomorrow, I am deeply troubled in my spirit. How can I excuse spending money on comforts and extras while so many go without? What a terrible disappointment this must be to my heavenly Father. My heart echoes these lyrics from Paul Overstreeet, “How can I go to bed at night and sleep so peacefully if I haven’t given something for the least of these?” Oh Loving Father in heaven, please forgive us. Forgive me. Please continue to bring conviction that will not allow us to go on as we have been. Please transform our hearts to love as You do and to overflow with compassion and generosity that is a delight to You.
Lynn
This year for many of us, giving thanks looked a little different. We celebrated in smaller groups, and perhaps the mood was a little more somber than usual. Yet even in these circumstances, we find ourselves with countless reasons to give thanks. As we stop to consider the blessings of family and friends, of health and homes and comforts and abundant food even in 2020, we stand amazed. To give thanks is to acknowledge that all of this has come from a Source other than ourselves. We give or thanks to the One who has given so much to us.
Recognizing how much God has entrusted to us as His servants is very sobering when we consider Jesus’ parables in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27. Jesus taught that we have been loaned resources which we are to be investing for the glory of God and the benefit of His kingdom. In the parables Jesus referred to money, but He has also entrusted us with time, skills, opportunities, etc. According to the parable, rewards and assignments (or loss of rewards) in heaven will be directly related to the ways we have invested the things entrusted to our care on earth. In fact, of the three servants mentioned, the only one who heard his Master say “Well done My good servant” was the one who earned ten times the amount entrusted to him (Luke 19:17). As we ponder the teaching of our Lord we come to understand the things God has given us are not just a gift, they are a serious responsibility. Each of us will be called to give an account of what we have done with what we have been given. Will He call us wicked servants for squandering that which we received, as He did with the third servant who failed to invest what he was given?
We live in a world full of pain and distress. 2020 has brought record-breaking hurricanes and other tropical storms, flooding, deadly earthquakes and wildfires. Thousands of homes have been leveled to piles of rubble or ash. The pandemic has left millions sick and thousands grieving. Countless more are isolated, fearful, and desperately lonely. People around the globe continue to lose their jobs, businesses, and homes. Millions have no reliable access to food or clean water. I recently heard an estimate that 90% of people in the world do not even own a bed. There are approximately 12,000 kids in foster care in Michigan alone. So many more are homeless or enslaved by human traffickers. The need is unimaginably great.
And yet, the vast majority of the time we go about our daily lives with no thought at all to the needs of all these people. How much money will we spend in the next month on food, gifts, and decorations for people who are in need of nothing at all? If we truly have the heart and mind of Christ, we must do more than just say “Thank You” on Thursday and move on to black Friday. We have received in order that we may give. We are to be using His resources to love people created in His image for His glory. Perhaps the annual income you earn is intended to support two families, or even three or four. God’s people are to be continually expressing His love in what we say and what we do. What could we be doing that He would call “well done” when He returns? As I sit in my warm house on my comfortable couch, with my stomach full and more food cooking for tomorrow, I am deeply troubled in my spirit. How can I excuse spending money on comforts and extras while so many go without? What a terrible disappointment this must be to my heavenly Father. My heart echoes these lyrics from Paul Overstreeet, “How can I go to bed at night and sleep so peacefully if I haven’t given something for the least of these?” Oh Loving Father in heaven, please forgive us. Forgive me. Please continue to bring conviction that will not allow us to go on as we have been. Please transform our hearts to love as You do and to overflow with compassion and generosity that is a delight to You.
Lynn
