Today's devotion still focuses on the cross. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In Christ's case, He has already payed our debts. And now, it is we who owe Him everything. Yet, he does not send us a bill.
Today's Comments:
What does that imply? The answer is quite simple. If He is willing give us everything, including his life, we need to think about giving something back to him. Now, we ask, what do we have to give him? Simple, we have time, talent, and treasures.
- Time: Do we attend church on a regular basis? Oh yes, we sometimes use the excuse that we worship him alone, in our own way. But that is not what the Church is about. Read the Epistles of Paul. Everything there is about the Church and the community of people who came together for worship and fellowship.
- Talent: What do we do for ourselves that we can do for others? 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12 through 14 talks about gifts of the spirit. We are all endowed with spiritual gifts, and each of us is different. I have a new friend who has used her talent to build an organization which helps protect children from adult Internet predators. What a wonderful talent! And what honor to God! What dormant talents do we have that could be used for the good of others or to enhance our relationship with God?
- Treasures: It is our gift of money that allows the Church to finance its work. $5 or $10 a week is not enough, if we consider the love that Jesus showed us on the cross. Think again about Paul. How was Paul able to keep the early Church going? He depended upon the faithful for financial support of both himself and the weaker Christian brethren who, at the time were being persecuted by both the Jews and the Romans.
Let us pray that we can learn to become more giving, as our life and our Christian discipleship continues. Let us pray that we can learn to use our time, talent, and treasures to love the Lord Our God, as well as our neighbor.
