EPHESIANS 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

THEME OF THE DAY. DON’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. We do it all the time. All of us. It is part of our human experience and particularly, our sinfulness. We take things and people for granted. Take a few moments and make a mental check-list of those people and things God has wonderfully given us that we take for granted. As we do, let me add to the list . . . a godly wife, a good church, wonderful Christians in my life, my health, a roof over my head, food, clothing, reliable transportation, children seeking the Lord . . . I know the list should go on and on. Yet, there is one thing I want to consider in this sinful tendency. It is the privilege of being a Christian. Sadly, honest Christians confess being a child of God is easily taken for granted. With that said, let’s identify three signs verifying our guilt of taking God and His saving grace for granted.

First, a Christian taking God and His saving grace for granted lacks a life lived in the spirit of thanksgiving. This all begins when our thoughts of God begin to fade in our daily living. We find the world and life consuming our thoughts. Instead of being renewed by the Word, we are being conformed to the world (Romans 12:1-12). Should this pattern continue, we will lose the sense of gratitude leading to thanksgiving for the God of all grace who made us who we are and given us all we have.

Next, a Christian taking God and His saving grace for granted neglects consistent times of seeking Him in His Word. The root causes of our neglect of God’s Word is not busyness or lack of time. They are lack of desire and forgetting the great price paid to have Bibles. A good way to prevent this from happening is to read biographies and church history on the preservation of the Bible during difficult times. Read of John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, John Hus, and Martin Luther. Let history keep the flame of love for the Bible aglow in our hearts so we won’t allow the “chill” of taking it for granted put it out.

A third sign we take God and His saving grace for granted is our attitude and practice toward prayer. Have we recently thought about what salvation accomplished beyond forgiveness? It opened the “lines of communication” and those lines are defined by a simple word – prayer. Let this sink deep into our minds and heart. God made a way for us to know Him, fellowship with Him, and enjoy Him. That “way” is through the various means of grace and one of the primary means is prayer. We may discover we are taking God and His saving grace for granted by neglecting prayer and not delighting in prayer. Friends, we don’t “have” to pray; we get to pray. God’s love broke down the wall of hostility between us, so we may grow intimate with Him through prayer – prayer that wants to get close to His heart and enjoy Him.

Taking things for granted. It happens a lot, even daily, but we can overcome this unthankful attitude. God’s saving grace can develop within us a grateful heart; one learning not to take Him and His many gifts for granted.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me for the times I take for granted that I am Your child.”

QUOTE: “An indicator we take God for granted is not living with a thankful heart in all things.”