“Abraham had faith and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:5b (CEB)
When I read the above passage, I was reminded again how important it is to trust in God and how faith positively impacts the way I live each day. When I try to rely on myself or someone or something else, I get anxious and worry because deep down I know these things are ultimately not trustworthy. In the beginning and end is God who loves me and wants me to have an abundant life now and forever.
And God is a God of abundance! John the Baptist said that Jesus, “out of the fullness of his grace has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.” An abundance of blessing! (1:16) At a wedding in Canaan, Jesus turned water into wine—six huge jars filled to the brim. The result was an abundance of the best wine. (2:7, 10) When Jesus met the woman at the well, he offered her life giving water gushing up to eternal (abundant) life. (4:14) After Jesus fed 5000 men and their wives and children with only five loaves of barley bread and two fish, his disciples collected 12 baskets of leftovers. An abundance of food! Later, Jesus promises that there an abundance of rooms in his father’s house. (14:2) It’s no wonder that Jesus proclaims of himself, “I came that they many have life and have it abundantly.” (10:10) Whether it’s wine at a wedding or food in the wilderness there is always more than enough. God’s grace, mediated through Christ, is abundant!
Much of the time we tend to base our living on a scarcity mindset. We hoard and save and worry and end up living life in small safe measures. We give in to our fears of not having enough for ourselves rather than exercising faith in God’s abundance. I know it is easy to worry and lose sleep when money gets tight. But God invites us to live into a grace-filled, abundant future. It’s a timely reminder with our concerns over the economy, our own finances and the finances of the church. In the face of our worries and fears we are challenged to take seriously God’s generous offer of life. Jesus doesn’t ask for more than we have, but he encourages us to be generous so that he can take what we return to him to do incredible things. We don’t need to be afraid to be generous even in this shaky economy when we trust God’s abundant grace. After all, God is far more trustworthy than those things in our economy that cause us to worry.
So let us give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but each and every day with glad and generous hearts to our God who abundantly blesses us!
In Christ’s abundant love,
