Giving Away What Was Never Yours

The Source of all things is also the Owner of all things. There’s a pleasure in giving what you have to someone in need that is unlike the pleasure of ownership. You place your money in the Salvation Amy tin. You volunteer to serve dinner to the homeless. You see the look in a poor child’s eyes when you hand them a box covered in colorful Christmas wrapping.

• But your whole life is actually a gift. God gave you life and you are His. God so loved that He gave.

Whether it’s your money, your talents, or your time, the more you walk in gratitude for what’s been given to you and the more you realize that what you have was never really yours in the first place, the more you’ll offer everything you have to those in need.

God has provided you with the means to give. And it’s in the giving that you’ll receive.

Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. — Deuteronomy 15:10

*

Beyond What Is Seen

There was a monster under the bed. You couldn’t see it, but you knew. Under the bed, in the closet — it was always what you couldn’t see that scared you most.

But the unseen also thrilled you. Imagining what lay outside your door every day made you tie your shoelaces all the quicker. Imagining what gifts were yours under the Christmas tree filled you with anticipation and joy.

As adults, we’re still scared of the unseen, all those areas beyond our control. And we’ve also lost that sense of wonder about what’s outside our door or the gifts waiting to be opened.

But God will turn on the night light and leave the door cracked. And He’ll invite you to discover a world of wonder that only He can reveal.

Will you trust this God of the unseen?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see... By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. — Hebrews 11:1, 3

Excerpted with permission from 365 Devotions to Embrace What Matters Most by John M. Michalak, copyright Zondervan.

* * *

Your Turn

This is the season of giving and of wonder. Let’s also make it the season of trust! He who gave us the gift of life is worthy of our gratitude, wonder, and trust! Come share your thoughts with us. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily