Thank God for His gifts

 21 Nov 25

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Life Application Study Bible Devotion


Thank God for His gifts

In opposition to the false teachers, Paul affirmed that everything God created is good. We should ask for God's blessing on his created gifts that give us pleasure and thank him for them. This doesn't mean that we should abuse what God has made (for example, gluttony abuses God's gift of good food, lust abuses God's gift of love, and murder abuses God's gift of life). Instead of abusing, we should enjoy these gifts by using them to serve and honor God. Have you thanked God for the good gifts he has given? Are you using the gifts in ways pleasing to you and to God?


“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

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Reflections

I recall our staff devotion on “This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.”Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬


Our Lord gives us gifts to enjoy, not for indulgence but to bless us and also for us to bless the others. And our group agree that to be contented for whatever we have, can give us a sense of happiness and joy. We don’t need more but just the knowing that all is good and well provided for.


One question that was asked was “can I enjoy the things I like without feeling guilty?” I think we sometimes do pointless scrolling, watch youtube, dramas, go to movies, etc etc. I think there’s nothing wrong with that. It would be wrong if we over-indulge in it and spend hours doing it without any purpose, satisfying nothing and making life kind of meaningless. 


I think time is also a gift from God to us. Everyone has the same amount of time and how we spend it is ultimately up to us. It is almost equal to the parable of the talents. How we spend the talents that God gave us is up to us. However, judgement day will come and He will ask what we had done with the talents. Did we put it to good use and earn 5 fold, 10 fold or 100 fold? Or did we do nothing about it and bury it in the sand? Perhaps this is something we ought to ask ourselves too. 


Or did we also worked too much without giving our bodies enough rest? Perhaps it is time to reflect and make adjustments before He returns.


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