Take Nothing For Granted

"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."
Dr. Seuss

What does it mean to "take things for granted"? The dictionary tells us that it implies a lack of appreciation or gratitude.  We fail to appreciate the people or things in our life.  To appreciate is to be grateful for...to be thankful.  That's what gratitude is...thankfulness.

When we take things for granted, eventually they will be taken away.  And that's when we learn to truly appreciate them...when we don't have them anymore...when it's too late.  So often we don't appreciate what we have until we lose it.  And the sad thing is, we knew exactly what we had; we just thought we'd never lose it.

Take this year, for example, how many of us have lost our jobs, our business, our home?  In the blink of an eye, everything changed.  We took for granted the luxury of being able to go to a movie, go to a swimming pool, or even go out to eat.  We took for granted the very things that most deserved our gratitude.  We are not the same people we were when this year began.

But most of all, we've taken God for granted.  God has given us so much, yet we take Him and all of His blessings for granted every day.  We've taken Him out of our schools, our homes, even our country.  Martin Luther wrote, "The greater God's gifts and works, the less they are regarded".  What was once a blessing to us has become routine or boring.

The same applies to the people in our lives - our family, our friends.  Don't take them for granted.  We were temporarily separated from them, and it didn't feel good.  Love the people God has put in your life.  They won't be here forever; He will want them back one day.

I think maybe we should ask ourselves - at least once a week - what am I taking for granted?   Life is short...be grateful and never take anything for granted.  It could all be gone one day.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above."
James 1:17