Tuesday Reading: Philippians 4:17
Key Verse: Philippians 4:17
17 I do not say this because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
Devotion:
What do you feel like when you receive a gift? What do you want to do when you receive a gift? The first thing we normally want to do is to open our gift and see what it is; but then what do we do? The obvious thing is to thank the person who gave you the gift... But what about the times when you receive a gift that is a ‘once in a lifetime’ gift or something so very special that you have wanted for a long time? How do we then treat the people that give us that gift? I can bet that we treat them well and try to do things for them in return, not because they have asked for it but because you think they deserve it!
But life is not all about giving and receiving gifts because we will eventually run out of physical things we can give. Life is about sharing the things that we have and not just the physical things but the spiritual things as well. If someone were to support us in some way we would want to be able to show them that their support was worthwhile and that we have done something good with their support. We cannot always show people that because we do not always succeed at everything we do, but we can strive towards that calling.
If we were given seeds for a fruit tree there would be nothing better than to be able to give some of the fruit from that tree back to the person who gave you the seeds. God has given us so much in our lives that we can tend to. He has given us circumstance, opportunity, strength and even wisdom so that we can share His free gift that He has given us. He wants us to be able to return the fruits of what He has given us back to His people. He wants us to share His Gospel with others. He has given us a life through which we have been able to accept His truth. He has given us a brain with which to understand it. He has given us a heart that wants to share it. He has given us everything so far...
Points to Ponder:
Do you see what God has given you?
What are you doing to thank God?
