God, this one is You!

Luke 17:11-19.

A year 5 teacher begins: “Today, boys and girls, you’re going to draw on your pieces of paper something or someone you’re grateful for… it’s a great way to remind ourselves how lucky we are for what we have or who we have in our lives. Afterwards, we will share what we have with the rest of the class.” After the drawing, the kids began to share:

I’m thankful for trees because they give me oxygen.
… for my parents because they help me with my homework.
… for chocolate.
A kid drew a hand. “It’s your hand Ms Sanders, …” recalling how the teacher cares for them, “and I’m thankful for you.”

When it comes to thanksgiving, it’s easy to miss the obvious.

In the passage, Luke sandwiches a miracle among Jesus’ teaching on His kingdom. Jesus heals ten lepers and asks them to show themselves to the priest, but only one (a Samaritan, foreigner) comes back to express gratitude to Him (v15-19).

Now leprosy in the old testament, unlike other diseases, was not just physical but spiritual. It was incurable by man. The person (leper) was considered unclean and not permitted to worship or live among people. (Num. 5:2, Lev. 13:45-46)

So if leprosy is incurable by man, this gift of healing must be from God thought the Samaritan. Luke’s point: the kingdom of God reveals one giver, and we can trace His gifts back to Him.

Every time we say thank you, we are saying, “God, this one is You! I recognise that You are the giver.” And the ultimate gift we can trace back to God is the gift of His Son Jesus. God I’m thankful for You.

Reflect & Pray

What gifts can you trace back to God today? How might you make thanksgiving to God a habit?

Thank you, Father God, for all your blessings and indescribable gift!

God bless you exceedingly,
Sam.

God’s mercy: sovereign over all

Jonah 1:1-16. I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas break. Happy New Year! Have you ever had one of those sat-nav moments where no matter how far off course you go, it keeps rerouting and repeating “make a u-turn.” That’s the story of Jonah. God sends him north-east to Nineveh, but Jonah heads west to Joppa instead. And the book shows us something remarkable: God’s response to people on the wrong route isn’t abandonment, but mercy. Like a sat-nav, He keeps rerouting and calling us back to Himself. Jonah takes us on a journey into the nature of God’s mercy. In today’s passage, as we see the striking stubbornness of Jonah toward God, we begin to see the saving sovereignty of God’s mercy. In spite of Jonah’s refusal of God’s directive, God is still in control. He commands and can change all things (Ps 148:5, Jer 32:17). ...

True life begins with accepting the word

Mark 4:1-20, 26-29. (The Parables of the Sower and Growing Seed). How do you respond to God’s word? Jesus shows that the continuous experience of true life only comes from accepting the word of God. Anything short, at its best, only yields momentary joy. In teaching about the Kingdom of God (v11, 26), Jesus speaks of a farmer who goes to sow seeds and scatters them on all kinds of soils, with the good soil truly yielding life (v1-8, 26). The seed is the word of God (v14), and the soils are how we respond to the word. But there is only one right response. Accept it The parable shows that just as the kind of soil affects the yield, the kind of response affects the experience of the Kingdom of God. It’s like signing up for an online service, say Amazon; there are terms and conditions open to all. You can either ignore it, tiptoe around it, cons...

Accompanied by unfailing love

Ruth 1:1-22. I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas break. Happy New Year! The Book of Ruth has been called the most beautiful short story ever written because of its simple narrative. A narrative that shows how God’s provision for our needs or challenges is often woven into the simple acts of human kindness. Chapter 1 shows the kindness of a daughter-in-law, Ruth, to her mother-in-law, Naomi (v8, 16, 22), and we’ll see God at work through that. But first, the passage sets the context by introducing us to Naomi’s loss… Naomi lost her family… When Naomi (which means pleasant) is first introduced, we are told of her loss. A woman in a foreign land who lost her family (v1-5). She feels bitter, empty and afflicted by the Lord (v21). Why so? …Because Naomi knows Israel’s God to be the Almighty—Sovereign. He can bring famine to ...

A Devotional Life

Search This Blog