Starting today and lasting until Christmas Day, I am doing a specific reading plan through YouVersion.com called 30 Days Toward Biblical Generosity. One of my greatest desires is to be a generous person for the glory of God and the good of others. As we jump headlong into the Christmas season, I realize that it is so easy to get caught in the trappings of our consumer culture and thus miss out on the generosity God has called us to. Each day for the next 30 days, I will post the Scripture readings for the day on here. If you’d like to join, I’d appreciate the accountability. Looking forward to seeing what God has in store for this study!
Genesis 1:26-31
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 9:1-3
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
God’s priority is his church, not his resources. God gave everything for us, and when we give ourselves fully to him we become a more vivid reflection of his overwhelming abundance. God calls us to adjust our priorities and steward his resources for his ultimate purposes.
The following reading plan is provided to encourage you to dig deep into the Biblical message of generosity. It is here that we discover the good news that God has not only made us to be recipients of his grace but has also invited us to become participants in the movement of his divine generosity. We invite you to join us on the journey toward generosity.