February 21, 2012
Thank You
Last Sunday in worship service one of the public prayers included, “Thank you God for the things we can’t give
ourselves – life, hope and peace.” Although we know that everything comes
from God, the non-believer would say that his job, his house and the food on
his table comes from his own initiative. As I think about my normal prayers, I
wonder if I put more emphasis on material things than I do on the things that
can come only from His hand. “To him who
is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious
presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our
Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before
all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25 NIV)
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----Without God, we wouldn’t have any air to breathe. Without our breathing it, the air He gave us would be unbreathed. Without water, we wouldn’t have any crops. Without irrigation ditches, fields wouldn’t have any water. God makes life, hope, and peace available. We must reach out and take them, most of the time by hard work. God said it would be that way, “...by the sweat of your brow...” So a man’s job, house, table, and food do come to him by his own initiative, although he has not created the substance of which they’re made. God did that. And He placed us in a world given from His hand which itself requires of us initiative, responsibility, and a great deal of attentiveness.
-----But as important as emphasizing the material things of our lives is lest we be without food, shelter, or jobs, you’re still right about emphasizing God. There is a subtle thing about life, a thing as small as a gnat and far more pervasive than its swarms. In 1998, a research psychologist realized the study of psychology had left its beginning intentions of heaping happiness upon the human experience. So he bent his research goals towards studying what he called positive psychology and developed a map of psychological character traits making up the good life. Although he carefully categorized twenty four traits, only integrity and humility approached need for knowing or even acknowledging truth. Integrity is generally related to one’s actions truthfully following one’s ideas, and humility is commonly seen as an attitude of regard towards others. Both notions leave any truthfulness of one’s ideas or truthfulness of the others to be regarded as dangling, loose ends.
-----And well they should, according to the circles who worship from such books. And I don’t mean their books are worthless; they are very useful. But they worship the human by failing to tie up this loose end of what is truly, most sincerely, true. We worship ourselves when responsibly attending the material needs of our own lives by our own initiative while failing to attend one simple truth of all things. God made, God holds together. All things happen for His purpose, so all things will fold into the meeting of His ultimate goal. Therefore it behooves us to pay attention to this simple gnat of truth buzzing around every motion we make, every thought we think, and every thing we possess.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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