Bible Verse: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Scripture Reading: Genesis 1
“Every good and perfect gift is from above…” (James 1:17)
An evangelist was once stunned when his non-religious hairdresser said, “I’m so fortunate and blessed. My life has so many good things. I have a deep feeling of gratitude, but I just don’t know who to thank.”
That moment was an evangelist’s dream and a needed reminder of truths we must always teach our children.
From their earliest days, we must teach our kids that this is our Father’s world. Everything that we see is “from Him, through Him, and for Him” (Romans 11:36), whether that is acknowledged or not.
If we put this into practice, something as mundane as our family dinner table becomes a catalyst of thanksgiving. The euphoria of laughter, the creativity that concocted the meal, the very tastebuds that enjoyed the food, the wood that the table and chairs were made of, and the experience of family life…all of these gifts can be traced back to our Creator!
Like the Israelites of old, we plagiarize when we take credit for the good things and good times in our lives (Deuteronomy 8:17). The gratitude we do have is often vague, like that of the hairdresser. We send out half-hearted prayers of thanks to whatever or whoever is out there.
In a secular, entitled, and unreflective cultural moment, we must learn to think deeply and “trace the sunbeam to the sun”[1] (C.S. Lewis). Every pleasure and every moment contains gifts that come from God—if we have eyes to see.
This very moment, you are breathing borrowed breath. You are an organism infinitely more complex than the device you’re reading this on. We likely didn’t wake up today giving thanks for all this, but what if we did?
Our life, gifts, and experience of this world are all gifts from above. We must learn to trace the warmth of the sun on our faces to the Son who created the sun.
Will our kids see and learn a life of thanksgiving to God from us?
Prayer: Father, thank You…thank You for Your patience with me. Thank You for the infinite variety of gifts that I take for granted. Thank You for things like my functioning colon, the ability to feel pain, the warmth of bitter coffee and the blessing of children. Teach me to give thanks for all things. Amen.
Reflection: Think of 10 things you typically don’t thank God for. Give Him thanks!
[1] Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
Copyright © 2024 Impactus. All rights reserved.
About
