Scripture Passage
Scripture Focus
Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! (1 Chronicles 29:14 NLT)
Observation
Giving credit where credit is due, it was John Maxwell I first heard use the illustration I’m about to share with you. He told the story of dad who stopped for a snack at a hamburger joint with his young son. As the boy munched on the fries the dad had just purchased, Dad reached for a few to enjoy himself.
The boy protested—“Hey, those are my fries!” And suddenly, the father saw the Father (yep, the heavenly Father) and His generosity towards us in a whole new light.
“What my son didn’t understand,” said the dad, “was that I gave him those fries…and I could take ‘em away again! What he equally failed to understand was that I had the resources to step back up to the counter and supply my child with more fries than he could ever possibly consume! He failed to see me for who I was—the supplier of all he enjoyed and, ultimately, the owner of it, still.”
And so it is, so often, between God and His people. The offering plate passes and we withhold what rightfully belongs to God because we have (we think) so many other obligations…so much lack ourselves…and have to hang on to everything we’ve got. Our Father watches from heaven, and perhaps even responds a bit to our behavior like a father with a son unwilling to share a French fry.
David got it right: Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! (1 Chronicles 29:14 NLT)
Lord, remind me that, ultimately, I possess nothing and only steward what belongs already—and always—to You.
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