Sun and Rain for Everyone

Read

Matthew 5:45 "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Think

Here is a question. When the sun comes up in the morning, does it only shine on nice people? Does it check first to see who was kind yesterday and skip the grumpy ones?

Of course not. The sun shines on everybody. The nice kid and the mean kid both wake up to the same sunshine. When it rains, it waters the garden of the kind neighbor and the cranky neighbor exactly the same.

Jesus used that picture to show us something about God. God sends sunshine and rain to everyone. He is good to people who love him and even to people who do not. His kindness is not just for a few special people. It is for all.

And then Jesus said the amazing part. He wants us to be like that too. When we love people who are hard to love, we start to look like our Father in heaven. We become like him.

Think about it this way. Anybody can be nice to their best friend. That is normal. But when you are kind to someone who was mean to you, people notice. They think, wait, why is that kid being nice? That is different. That is God's kind of love shining through you.

Maybe there is a kid at school who is grumpy and pushes people away. It would be easy to just avoid them. But what if you were the sunshine in their day? What if your kindness was the rain that helped something good start to grow in them?

You do not have to be their best friend. You do not have to let them treat you badly. But you can choose to be kind, the same way the sun chooses to shine on everyone. That is what God's children do.

When you love like that, you are showing the whole world what your Father is like.

Apply

Be someone's sunshine – Pick one person who seems grumpy or left out and be kind to them today. Smile, say hi, or give a compliment. Be the sunshine in their day.

Pray

God, thank you that your sun shines on everyone and your rain falls for everyone. You are so good, even to people who are not good back. Help me love like that so I can look more like you. In Jesus' name. Amen.