Monday 26 January - Promises of Abundance!

DAILY BYTE

Earlier this week I received some wonderful news. I heard that I am one of the beneficiaries of an estate that is being wrapped up and am due to receive about R2,6 million! That was on Monday.

But it gets better.

On Tuesday I heard that somebody, very kindly, had entered me into a British lottery without my knowledge, and that I had won £800 000 – that’s pounds sterling!

On Wednesday, my IP address was randomly selected from the millions upon millions of internet users world wide, and I won $1 000 000 – tax free! (US, not Zimbabwe dollars!)

Thursday was a really bad day – not a sausage.

But this morning (Friday) I have just heard that a Swiss bank has finally traced me as the last surviving heir of a wealthy Austrian baron, and that they’re awaiting my instructions concerning a large safety deposit box that has been in their keeping for over a century. Of course, the exact contents of the box are unknown, but the bank strongly suspects that it contains the title deeds of extensive tracts of land scattered throughout central Europe. (By the way, please don’t mention this to my older siblings, as that might jeopardize my claim.)

Of course, all of this is just a big scam. One of my e-mail addresses has obviously landed in the hands of some spammers, and now I have the huge frustration of bogus messages like these clogging up by inbox every day, making empty promises of wealth and riches for me beyond my wildest dreams.

What amazes me is how people could ever fall for these kinds of promises. They are so blatantly fabricated that it defies comprehension how people could be so naïve as to be taken in by them. But then, I remember that I too have been hooked and ‘had’ by schemers and con-artists on more occasions than I’m comfortable to admit.

And that got me thinking.

Which is worse – to be so “naïve” as to believe that truly wonderful, surprising things can happen to us for real? Or to be so guarded, so suspicious, that we immediately dismiss any promises of good things that come our way with skepticism and disbelief?

The reality is that there ARE con-artists and grifters in this world who are out to prey upon unsuspecting people. And so it’s appropriate that we exercise caution before getting hooked into things that really are ‘too good to be true’.

But there is a further reality that we dismiss at great cost. It is the reality of the overflowing abundance of God who promises to all of us many good things that are truly beyond our wildest dreams. Thankfully, unlike my e-mail spam this week, God’s promises are not empty fabrications designed to trick us, but are the gracious outpourings of love that overflow from God’s abundantly generous heart.

In our devotions this week we’ll explore some of these outpourings of love that come to us from God. The hope and prayer is that as we reflect on these things we would respond not by asking ‘What’s the catch?’, but rather by asking ‘What can I do to allow myself to experience more of the overflowing abundance of God?’

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we live in a world so full of scams and empty promises. So we thank you that you are utterly trustworthy, and that your promises will never be broken. Help us to trust you more completely as we open ourselves to the overflowing abundance of your goodness and provision in our lives. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Psalm 145:3-9

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.

One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.

They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.