Tiến sĩ Tan Tech Zinc

DAILY REFLECTION
17 Sept 2026

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
James 4:17

Several years ago, I hosted a Christian brother in my home for a week. Wanting to make his stay comfortable, I also allowed him to use my spare car. I was glad to help and trusted that what was freely entrusted to him would be treated with care and appreciation.

On the final day, he told me he was running late for his flight. Without hesitation, I offered to drive him to the airport.

After dropping him off, I returned home and discovered something disappointing. After a week of use, the car was dirty, the petrol tank was almost empty, and a punctured tyre had simply been thrown into the boot—without being repaired or even mentioned to me.

What troubled me most was that something entrusted through friendship and generosity had been taken for granted.

That experience taught me an important lesson: when we take something for granted, we often stop appreciating it; and when appreciation disappears, responsibility can easily disappear with it.

When someone entrusts something to us, we have a responsibility to care for it. Gratitude should lead to good stewardship, not entitlement. Another person’s generosity should never become an excuse for our carelessness.

The same principle applies to our relationship with God.

Everything we have is ultimately entrusted to us—our time, abilities, finances, relationships, opportunities, influence and ministry. Yet when God’s blessings become familiar, we can begin to treat them as something we deserve rather than gifts of grace.

What we take for granted, we often fail to treasure. And what we fail to treasure, we may eventually fail to steward faithfully.

So let us examine ourselves. Have we taken someone’s kindness for granted? Have we neglected something entrusted to our care? More importantly, have we taken God’s blessings for granted?

When God reveals such neglect, let us not make excuses. Let us acknowledge it, make things right where possible, and ask Him to give us a grateful and responsible heart.

Faithfulness is often demonstrated in the little things—caring for what we borrow, keeping our promises, respecting another person’s generosity, and leaving what has been entrusted to us in good order.