The Proper Response

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. – James 1:16-18


It is easy to be deceived these days.  Today, the world values hard work and independence to a degree of idolizing these characteristics; and we adapt this view without even knowing it.  The danger with this is not that we become hard working people.  The danger rests on the lie that because we are hard working people we can live our lives in any way we want; or that, we have the right to claim all the good things in life and to keep them.

This is a lie that Christians and non-Christians alike buy into; and this lie has robbed us of our joy and peace because we are in constant battle of keeping ourselves afloat so we can guard all the good things in our lives as well as hoard them.  What we have forgotten is that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above!  God owns all of these good things in our lives whether in the form of talents, skills, finances, or families.  He could have chosen to not give them to you or to me, but instead He chose to entrust them to us for a purpose.  He wants us to use these gifts so we can bring honor and glory to Him.  That through these gifts, we might bless others and lead them into seeing His love, His mercy, His grace, and ultimately His gift of salvation.

Our response for these gifts should be one of grateful admiration and praise for Him through living a life with a firm resolution in our hearts that these gifts are not ours to keep but to share and to bless others with.  We are not to live our lives in any way we want, but to live a life that is pleasing to our Lord.

I know it is uncomfortable to think that we don’t own anything that we have, but that is the truth.  We don’t.  To possess this life and these gifts means that God gave them to us so we can fulfill the purpose He has created us for.  If we constantly insist to live a selfish life, then we will always be seeking for something to fill this seemingly endless emptiness within.

We will never find true satisfaction.  Only He can fill that hole.