MORAL STORIES

BOUNTEOUS BLESSINGS

It was a Christmas' Eve. A mother and her child were shopping in a large super market. There was a heavy rush of customers as the shop was to be closed on Christmas day. The shop was decorated beautifully. At the exit, a large bowl full of toffees was placed for the children. A stout gate-keeper was asking the children coming out of the store to have a handful each of the sweet toffees as Christmas gift.

When the mother and child came out, he politely asked the child to take the gift. But he stood still. The mother compelled him, but he was not willing to take it. Since more children were coming out, the gate-keeper took a handful of sweets from the bowl and put them into their carrier bag. The child was happy. When they were outside, the mother asked the child why he refused to take the toffees himself. He showed her his tiny hands and told innocently, “My hands are small, Mommy; but the gate-keeper’s hands were so large in size. If I collect a handful, it will be too little. But he filled his large hand and gave me all of it. That was much more than what I could have collected! I was waiting for him to do it.”

The child’s attitude teaches us an important lesson about the abundance of God’s grace being bestowed upon us. What we acquire by our own efforts is too little compared to the infinite gifts of God. If we seek God’s grace, He will shower His gifts on us. God’s hands and mind are infinitely larger than ours. His gifts will be the best and most suitable for us and much more than what we can ask or think of {Ephesians 3:20}.

Jesus promised, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you” {Matthew 7: 7, Luke 11: 9}. “I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness” {John 10: 10}.

“He gives generously to the needy, and His kindness never fails” {Psalms 112:9}.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, who will give it to him; because God gives generously and graciously to all” {James 1:5}.

“And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause” {2 Corinthians 9: 8}.

“And with all His abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs” {Philippians 4: 19}.

“Let us praise God for His glorious grace, for the free gift He gave us in His dear Son! For by the sacrificial death of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which He gave to us in such large measure!” {Ephesians 1:6-8}.

By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

This is Story No. 150 in this site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of a page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom of a page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.