GOD COMMANDS US TO BE GENEROUS.

Bible Reading of the Day: Read Deuteronomy 15:10-11.

Verse of the Day: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5.42, NIV).

“Jim-mee!” Kara’s childish voice broke the syllables of her stepbrother Jimmy’s name into two drawn-out sounds. “Jim-mee! Me too! P’ease?” She held out her tiny palm.

Jimmy sat on a chair by the window, watching the city traffic outside their home. He held an unopened bag of chewy candies, and Kara had spied the familiar wrapper.

“Jim-mee! Me too! P’ease?” she repeated.

“No, Kara,” Jimmy answered. “I’m saving these for later.”

Kara thrust her lip forward in a pout, and she turned and walked away. Jimmy watched her leave, then whispered to himself as he put the bag of candy into his shirt pocket, “I’ll wait until I can eat them all myself.”

“Hello, Son,” Jimmy’s dad said at that moment, slapping his son on the back.

“I… I didn’t know you were home, Dad,” Jimmy said.

Dad nodded. “Got home a few minutes ago,” he said. “Came in the back so I could leave my muddy shoes on the porch.” Dad was a construction worker.

Jimmy wore a worried look but said nothing about his encounter with Kara, hoping his dad hadn’t overheard anything. When Dad pulled up a chair and sat down facing Jimmy, he knew his hopes were empty.

Dad said, “You love Kara, and want her to learn the right things, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I do, too,” Dad said. “And one of the things I want her to learn is to be generous toward other people. You want to know why I want her to learn that?”

Jimmy nodded.

“Because God commands us to be generous, Jimmy. Jesus said, Give to the one who asks you,’ and I want your little sister to be the kind of person who obeys God. Don’t you?”

Jimmy nodded again.

“So,” Dad said, standing up and putting his chair back in place, “anything you can do to help Kara learn to obey God and be generous-well, I’d just really appreciate that, any chance you get.”

“Sure, Dad,” Jimmy said.

Dad slapped Jimmy firmly on the back again and walked away, whistling as he left. Jimmy sat for a few moments, thinking. Finally, he jumped up and called for his little sister. “Kara!” he called. “I’ve got something for you!”

TO DISCUSS: Do you think Jimmy was wrong to want to keep the candy for him­self? Why or why not? Have there been times when you were tempted not to share with someone? What did you do?

TO PRAY: “Lord, help us to give glory to you by our generosity.”