Thoughts for another day

May 9, 2013.

Today's verse: 1 Cor. 4:7. and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (KJV)

(Pls. read the above before you read further.  Thanks)

Some of us are better endowed with talent, or beauty or material possessions and what a way we behave!  If we have fair skin, particularly in India where I live, we try to show as much of it as we can; if we have a car or a big home, we boast about it and make sure as many as possible know of the ‘royal’ asset in our ‘material’ stables, by which we think people will have a high opinion of us.

Gradually, our skins get thickened by following of the ways of the world and pride and other useless character attributes set in by which our outlook to our fellow human beings becomes narrow and bigoted and if we find them a little less than us in any way, we tend to down-look them, consider them plebian and don’t respect them.  In some cases we demand respect from them and if they don’t give it, we may also punish them with the little more power we have. 

One key thing we forget: whatever we have has been given to us by God.  We tend to forget there’s nothing in our control and even that which we feel is in our control is actually not in our control for example, we know that unless the Lord allows, we may go to work in the morning but never return; we may begin something but never complete it unless He wills it and so on.  Now, knowing it is by the Lord that all things are, how can we glory in the things we have absolutely no control over or how can we boast about things we ourselves have had no hand in acquiring?  It’s time we started thinking about this and understood that what we have is given by God and in all humility we accept it and use it for His greater glory. Amen.