Matthew 7:9
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Father’s generosity.
My first memory of a gift from my Dad was a train he made out of jam tins and cotton reels tacked on to a piece of board and painted red and green. We were poor drought-affected farmers and he couldn’t afford to buy me a birthday present. I loved that train because I knew it was a sign of his love for me. Years later, when I returned to Australia from low-paid overseas mission service, Dad gave me money to help with the deposit on our first house. It was costly. He had struggled to save this money from his pension. Most Dads like to give gifts to their children on Birthdays and special occasions. At great cost, God gives us His Son, Jesus through whom we can experience God’s love and share it with those who are marginalised and suffering from poverty and injustice in Australia and overseas. Ask God for the gift of love for yourself and others.
Malcolm Campbell has trained teachers in Vanuatu, and served as a Uniting Church minister.