Lord, this day belongs to you. Thank you for giving us another day to learn and grow closer to you. Help us honor you in our choices today.

Children are a blessing from God. Whether you have kids or not, thank him for entrusting the next generation into our collective care.

The Lord blessed the Israelites abundantly through their journeys in Genesis & Exodus. Thank him today for taking care of his children.

From Genesis 1 onward, the Lord has given us so many wonderful gifts. Thank him today for the gift of his beautiful creation.

As we read last week about King David and the legacy he set for his son, Solomon, we can set an example through our personal generosity, but we also need to give our children opportunities to participate, themselves.

We adopted a tradition last year from another family member that is an easy and visual way to engage the kids in giving. It really resonated with them and serves as a constant reminder of how much we have set aside to give. It’s so simple: we keep a glass vase on the kitchen table – you might call it a centerpiece – and dump loose change into it every day (or as often as I remember to empty my wallet). Toward the end of the year, we will take it to the coin-counting machine and use the money to help buy our gift-tree items for charity.

The day I realized that the coin vase was “working” was when one of the six-year-olds found a quarter on the ground. He brought it to me, and I expected him to beg me to take him to the store to spend it. Instead, he said, “Look what I found! Can I put it in the vase?”

Another easy way to get the kids involved is to let them participate in the offering. Perhaps let them put the envelope in the basket. If they get an allowance or earn money for small jobs, help them do the math to give their own tithe. My personal preference is to put the envelope face-down, and I explained to the kids that I do that because we aren’t supposed to show off our gifts, since they are between us and God (Matthew 6:1-4). It’s a small thing to do, and it certainly doesn’t mean that putting money in the offering basket another way is wrong, but it is just another way that I’ve tried to help them understand what the Bible says about giving.

I encourage you to be creative. Talk to your family about giving, and make generosity a family priority. Let’s think through some verses this week in our prayer time.

King David mentioned that everything we have comes from God. Is that also your attitude about your “stuff”? If not, why not?

There are so many folks in our community and within our own church who are hurting financially. Lift them up today and ask for God’s wisdom.

Later in 1 Chronicles 29, King David prayed for his young son, Solomon. Let’s pray today for our kids to learn to use money wisely.

We have a generous church family who always steps up to the plate to meet a need. Thank God today, like King David did, for those blessings.

Having money or nice things isn’t bad, in and of itself. The problem arises when our attitude about money dilutes our relationship with God.