Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
May 2, 2022: SOAP #4533:  2Samuel 7; 1Chronicles 17; Psalm 2; Matthew 20

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew (NIV) 20:13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

OBSERVATION: When the landowner is generous with his money, he can be joyful in the giving.  From what I observe in the USA, when the government is generous with the landowner’s money, the landowner can become resentful.  He resents that they are wasting his money. 

And so often when the needy receive money from the government, they come to expect it as a right owed to them instead of a generous gift for which they should be grateful.  

Government involvement breeds resentment and expectation.  Christ teaches generosity and appreciation.  God’s generosity to me is to be the motivation for my generosity to others. 

APPLICATION: The Lord wants me to be generous with what I have.  I can be generous with the money God has given me. 

Even more important, I can be generous with the gospel.  God has blessed me with understanding of His character and His word.  He graciously reveals truth.  I trust God’s generosity to me flows through me in these SOAP devotions.  I have been blest to be a blessing.

PRAYER:  Lord, everything I have really belongs to you; it should be easy to be generous.  I want to appreciate your generosity to me by being generous to others.   Amen

Pastor Leon
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