Consider The Source

Consider the power of the source ...

To give ...

Zechariah 8:12 NLT
12 "For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the sky will release the dew. Once more I will make the remnant in Judah and Israel the heirs of these blessings."

And to take away ...

Micah 6:14-15
14 "You will eat but never have enough. Your hunger pangs and emptiness will still remain. And though you try to save your money, it will come to nothing in the end. You will save a little, but I will give it to those who conquer you. 15 You will plant crops but not harvest them. You will press your olives but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves. You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine."

One of the many things that I've come to recognize with unfailing certainty over the more recent years provokes me to continual gratitude on a regular basis. I'm confronted with it frequently throughout every day and given over to a heart of gratitude by the examples of undeserved favor. Considering it for any length of time often breaks my heart for my God and fills me with deep gratitude and humility ...

Why, with all of the suffering in the world am I allowed to have food in my belly and clean water in my glass when others are starving and struggling to find even dirty water to drink? Why is my body and those of my children and their children whole and not wracked with disease? Am I so righteous that I deserve special favor? -NO! I know well better than that and I'm not wise enough to decipher my Lord's wisdom in these things, nor foolish enough to make judgments about them. But I know the source of my provision in all things and can only acknowledge the gifts and each day be humbled and grateful to the One who provides.

My failure to see and appreciate what I have would only convey my lack of gratitude to the source of my provision. Even the "small things" could be of grave consequence if I were to lose them. Without my acknowledgement of the wealth of His provision, my heart would not hold true appreciation and my thanks would be without the depth of true gratitude. My worship would not emanate from a spirit truly cognizant of all that He chooses to be to us. We're so easily tempted to think like people of the world rather than children of the living God - knowing the true source of the provision to answer our every need. It's easy to feel that I deserve what I have because I earned it or paid for it. But the truth is that all that we see and all that we enjoy ... belongs to the One who created it and chooses to share it. We as mere mankind could never earn what we freely enjoy, given by the God who has the power to give and take away again as He chooses. If I am bankrupt in the eyes of the world, I am still sharing in His generosity every day that I live ...

How the loving heart of the giver might suffer when confronted with a lack of gratitude from His children. Parents may know the disappointment of a gift excitedly and lovingly given to a child who casts it aside without appreciation. I pray that I am not ignorantly guilty of depriving Him of the pleasure of my appreciation and gratitude in the  remaining days of this life or found accepting His love gifts with an unappreciative heart of indifference ...

In everything received, first consider the source ...