By Chris WittsMonday 8 Jan 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
Subscribe to Morning Devotions podcast
Transcript:
How easy it is to take everyday life for granted. It happens all the time. We stop remembering things that are always there for us, little things that are there all the time. Taken for granted.
Most of us can get up each morning from bed after a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed, feeling reasonably refreshed and confident about the day that’s to come. We have a nice shower, breakfast, and maybe go to work or get the kids ready for school. We may have a loving family that we take for granted. In fact, there are hundreds of aspects of daily life we don’t think about very much.
We all take many things in our lives for granted. For example, most of us have plans for the rest of today, for tomorrow, and probably for the rest of the week, and maybe even for months or years in advance. We simply assume that we are going to be here, that our lives will proceed orderly according to our well-laid plans. But things go wrong, don’t they? And we don’t want to think, even for a moment, that our lives could be interrupted or detoured by illness, financial disaster or worse. Just read the daily newspapers to find about that.
We Don’t Know What’s Around the Corner
We can and do take people for granted, and assume that they will somehow always be in our world. But, life has a way of intruding into our assumptions through separation. There is conflict, betrayal, or changing interests, geographical moves, illness, and death. We never know just what’s around the corner.
It’s so easy to take for granted that the shelves in the grocery stores will always be fully stocked, that the water will continue to flow into our homes, that electricity will always be available, that there will be fuel for vehicles, and that there will be services available in case of emergency. The list is endless, but the point is, we all take things for granted.
G.K. Chesterton, the novelist and poet, put it like this:
When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
What do you do?
Be Grateful for All Your Blessings
But what about the blessings we live with daily. Aren’t we so used to them that we take them for granted? Food, shelter, clothing; the country we live in; opportunities to work, play, and study; the miracle of life; the misfortunes we have avoided; the diversity and spice of life; good health; our gifts and talents; our achievements; freedom of speech; the kindness, encouragement, and help we get from others; the technology that makes life more pleasant (air-conditioning, appliances, computers); the ability to create our destiny with the power of choice; art, music, dance, poetry, and beauty; our friends, family, and pets.
Rather than complain about what you lack, be grateful for what you have. Charles Dickens once wrote:
Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
To energise your day, start it by counting your blessings. There’s an old gospel song that says,
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
In the Old Testament we read in Psalm 103:2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.” That’s a good verse to remember all the time. It means that every good thing is a blessing, a benefit from God. Benefits in life did not come to us using chance or by mere accumulation. They have their source in God. We owe God twice for everything we obtained. First, because everything is God’s by creation. Second, because it is God who gives men the ability, wisdom and capacity to obtain things.
Many people fail to comprehend this very important truth. Instead of giving God the credit for every achievement, success, and increase, they credit it to themselves. Not a wise thing to do.