Abundance Is Our Birthright

I am so blessed and grateful to be sitting here in my home watching the sunrise on Lake Murray. It's Sunday and a bit chilly this October morning. Sundays are special in several ways. They represent a fresh start on a new week. They also offer an opportunity for me to join good friends and fellow Christians in Sunday School and worship services at Chapin United Methodist Church. In worhip, I thank my creator for the abundance of blessings we enjoy.

Over the years as we have lived in different places, Ed and I have worshipped at different churches. They have each blessed us in a special way and taught us lessons about God, life, and ourselves. Regardless of the pastor or the message, however, the recurring theme has been how abundantly blessed we are. As a result of being blessed, our duty is therefore to be a blessing to others.

As I read the story of the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis, I realize that abundance was their birthright. These men and their families had challenges to be sure. Sometimes they made wise choices and sometimes not. Regardless, God continued to bless them and stay true to his covenant promise to bless them and make them as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the shore.

Here we are, four thousand years later, and these blessings continue from one generation to the next. Like the patriarchs, we have challenges in life. And often our challenges are similar to theirs. As families we deal with sibling rivalry, jealousy, alienation, forgiveness, and reconciliation. As nations, we deal with war, peace treaties, immigration, and trade agreements.

The beauty of all of this is that the same God who made a covenant with Abraham seeks to make one with us. We may think we live in a different time with all our technology and so we do. But all we experience today was made possible by the one God who set everything in motion by His powerfully spoken word.

As we approach this Sunday with all of its abundance, let's take the time to recognize and offer thanks to the creator who makes it all possible. Abundance is our birthright. Our grateful stewardship of this abundance is our response. We have been freely given so that now we can freely give.

May you enjoy all the abundance, peace, and joy that you were created to experience.

Sandra Hayes
Prosperity, South Carolina