Wednesday November 3, 2021

Today is Wednesday, November 3, and this week we are exploring Jesus’s teaching on the spiritual practice of generosity and how it transforms our thinking.

As I enter into prayer, I pause to be still. I breathe slowly and recenter my scattered thoughts upon the presence of God.

Pause and Pray

Holy Spirit, come guide me to rest in these moments of stillness with you. Amen.

I choose to remember God’s faithfulness, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 86.

Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead. – Psalm 86:11-13 NIV

Pause and Pray

Jesus shares a simple illustration as, along with the crowd, I sit back and listen to his teaching. I can hear real passion in his voice as he describes how an attitude of Christ-like generosity changes me from the inside out. He says,

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:22-24 NIV

Jesus describes my eyes as an opening for light to enter in. If I open my eyes wide in faith and generosity my body is filled up with the light of Christ. If I live “squinty-eyed in greed and distrust” (v.23 MSG) darkness remains in me. It is the light of Christ that compels me to be wholehearted and undivided in my love for God and others.

Ask: What else do I hear Jesus emphasize in this teaching?

Pause and Pray

Lord, help me examine my attitudes and thoughts as I slowly read Jesus’s words once again.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:22-24 NIV

Ask: What image, word or phrase stood out to me this time as I listened to Jesus?

Pause and Pray

Lord, help me look inward and examine who or what I am wholeheartedly serving. I cannot serve both you and money, and so I choose you, Lord. Help me open my eyes wide in faith and generosity, my hands as well, so that the light of Christ fills me with your love and it overflows into all the world. Amen.

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 11:19 NIV

Father, prepare me to live this day being faithful to you in every way. Jesus, help me serve others with your compassion and grace. Spirit, transform my inner thoughts and motivations so that all I do, I do to please you. Amen.