Daily Devotional for April 3, 2019
Spring Break Blues
It was spring break, and Bella was bored. “Mom, what can I do?” she asked over and over.
Her mother sighed. She had already made several suggestions, but nothing interested Bella. “I’ll tell you what,” Mom said finally. “I’ll help you think of something fun to do if you’ll do some jobs for me first.”
“Okay,” Bella said. “Anything would be better than sitting around doing nothing.”
Mom wrote out a list of jobs, and Bella went to work. First she vacuumed the carpets and dusted the furniture. Then she washed the bathroom tile. Finally, she folded some towels and put them away. “Is that it?” she asked when she had finished.
“Not quite,” said Mom. “I’d like you to jump on your bike and take these cookies over to Mrs. Gundy’s house.”
“Ride my bike? All the way over there? It’s so far!” But Bella got her coat, put the container of cookies in her backpack, and left.
By the time she got back home, she was tired. I hope Mom doesn’t have any more jobs for me to do, she thought. I want to do something fun now.
“You’ve done well this morning,” Mom said when Bella walked in. “Now would you like to do some fun stuff? Maybe read for a while?”
“Good idea!” said Bella. Then she laughed. “When you suggested the same thing before, it sounded boring. Now it sounds like fun. How weird is that?”
Mom laughed. “The activity hasn’t changed, but you have. You didn’t appreciate your free time this morning. I took it away from you for a while, and now you realize how nice it was! It’s a matter of attitude.”
“I guess so,” said Bella. “Sorry I complained so much.”
“Apology accepted,” Mom replied. “You know, God often hears us complain too. He’s given us so many good things—including His own Son, Jesus—but we often don’t appreciate our blessings like we should.”
Bella nodded. “Well, I’m done complaining!” she said. “I’m sure I can find lots of things to do for the rest of the day. And I know I can find lots of things to thank God for instead of complaining to Him.”
How about you?
Do you appreciate what you have? Or are you a grumbler? We often want what we don’t have instead of being thankful for what we do. The next time you feel like complaining, think about all God has given you—including His own Son, who died to save you from sin and give you eternal life. Then thank Him for all His blessings.
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