Daily Devotional

In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus made a clear distinction between the water she had come to draw and the water Jesus was offering her: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14). Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity. What do we really gain if we amass the whole world and yet lack Jesus?

The Father heard that the elder brother was outside. The father could have ignored him, but this would mean losing another son. Just as the Father was merciful to the prodigal son, he showed mercy to the elder brother by stepping out of the banquet to reason with him. Joseph’s brothers hated him because Israel, their father, loved him more than the other children, and he did not hide it. When one of my children is not doing well (or goes astray), do I reach out to them in love?

To think that someone’s light has to go off before yours can shine is to have a very limited mindset, which is the opposite of God’s mind. The funny thing is that in trying to quench others’ light, we only succeed in making them shine brighter, and then, we destroy ours. The householder demanded a harvest from the vineyard because He knew what the vineyard could produce. God expects us to shine rather than fight others because of their gifts.