We all take things for granted. Remember the old song, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done…” Our lives have been incredibly blessed, but the every-day-type of blessings we simply take for granted and move through our day without giving them much thought. Each and every day is a blessing. Each and every second of the day is a blessing. Each and every person that touches our lives is a blessing. Each and every experience is a blessing. Embrace the blessings and share the joy! Live in the moment and we need to stop looking over our shoulder for something bigger or better or more meaningful or more expensive because if we are expecting something better or more unusual we can miss the blessing that God has placed before us today. Live in the moment and take nothing for granted!
Here is a story that kind of illustrates this reality …
The Bible or a Diamond Ring?
A married lady was expecting a birthday gift from her husband. For any months she had admired a beautiful diamond ring in a showroom, and knowing her husband could afford it, she told him that was all she wanted. As her birthday approached, this lady awaited signs that her husband had purchased the diamond ring.
Finally, on the morning of her birthday, her husband called her into his study. Her husband told her how proud he was to have such a good wife, and told her how much he loved her. He handed her a beautifully wrapped gift box.
Curious, the wife opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the wife's name embossed in gold. Angrily, she raised her voice to her husband and said, 'With all your money you give me a Bible?'
She stormed out of the house, permanently leaving her husband. Many years passed and the lady was very successful in business. She managed to settle for a more beautiful house and a wonderful family, but realized her ex-husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to visit him. She had not seen him for many years.
But before she could make arrangements, she received a telegram telling her that her ex-husband had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to her. She needed to come back immediately and take care of things.
When she arrived at her ex-husband's house, sudden sadness and regret filled her heart. She began to search through her ex-husband’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as she had left it years before.
With tears, she opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. Her ex-husband had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, 'And if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father, who is in heaven, give what is good to those who ask Him?'
As she read those words, a tiny package dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a diamond ring, with her name engraved on it -- the same diamond ring that she saw at the showroom.
On the tag was the date of her birth, and the words. 'LUV U ALWAYS'.
How many times do we miss God's blessings, because they are not packaged as we expected?
Do not spoil what you have, by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
We should ALL grow in the Word to improve and to better OURSELVES so that we can be used by God and be a blessing to others.
If your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it’s because it may be better packaged the way it is.
Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger and better things.
Quote for today: “The best and most beautiful things in the world sometimes cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” ~Source unknown
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The quote is not exact, but still clearly recognisable. It is not from unknown source, but from The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery. This is a very famous and a very wise book.
ReplyDeleteGood article, but there are other great books apart from the Bible out there. It wouldn't hurt to read them. Otherwise we would be missing a lot.