Skittles

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

A while back I took one of my cousins to a high school football game and she asked for some money to buy candy. I handed her a five dollar bill and off she went to the concession stand. When she came back with a package of Skittles®, I asked, “Casey, can I have a few Skittles?”

She looked at the candy, then looked back at me and said, “No!”

Casey didn’t understand several realities. One, I could have physically taken those Skittles away from her. Two, I was the one who actually bought them for her. And three, if I had wanted to, I could have bought her so many packages of Skittles that she couldn’t have eaten them all.

We all have Skittles. Some piles are big, some small, but God has given us all some Skittles. You may have never thought of your possessions, money or talents as gifts from God, but they are. So when God asks you for a few of your Skittles in return, what do you say? Because your answer often reveals the truth about your relationship with him.

Don’t hold on tightly to what God has given you. Instead, recognize the reality that God has blessed you. And discover the blessings that return through a life of generosity and obedience.

The Next Step:

• Make a list of your “Skittles” — your talents, possessions, finances, etc.
• Evaluate your attitude toward those things. Are you willing to share them with the one who gave them to you?
• Ask God to help you develop a better understanding of your possessions, and to realize that God is still the owner of everything.