Don’t Take It for Granted

By Paul Chappell

"And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Deuteronomy 6:10–12

In the post-World War II era, a church was launching a building campaign. After a service in which the pastor laid out the vision for the project, two families waited in line to meet with him. The first father said, “Pastor, as you know, our son was killed in the war. We would like to give $200 toward the building as a memorial gift.” The second father said, “Pastor, we were going to give $200, but our son came home from the war. We will give $5,000!”

It should be true that the good things we receive from God make us more grateful, but in reality often they make us complacent and self-satisfied. We can quickly forget that He is the source of all of our blessings and benefits. In truth, nothing good that we have is the result of our own strength and ingenuity. Though we should be diligent in our work, even the strength to labor comes from God.

Rather than looking at our possessions as tokens of our effort, intellect, and superiority, we should look at them as tokens of God’s love and grace. He gives us so much more than we deserve, and giving thanks helps us remain on guard so that we do not forget Him.

Today's Rooted Principle:

God does not bless us because of our goodness but because of His goodness. Remembering this helps us remain grateful.