Thinking Twice About Things We Take for Granted

There’s so much in this life that we take for granted. For example, running water. We turn on the faucet or the shower without wondering whether water will come out. Until it doesn’t – as happened to us recently. The water pressure was very low, so we instantly started worrying about if we’d have enough water for our morning coffee or to get cleaned up. But that doesn’t happen often. 

Running water isn’t the only thing we tend to take for granted. There’s the car starting every time we turn the key or hit the ignition switch (depending upon the age of your car). However, we’ve probably all had moments when we turned the ignition and … nothing.

 

What about food for breakfast? For most of us, it’s not a matter of whether we’ll have any food to eat, but rather what kind of food we choose to have: Eggs? Bacon, or sausage? Cereal? Toast? Cinnamon rolls or donuts? We even take for granted that we’ll be able to choose.

 

Then there are our joints. We know we’ve got them – knuckles, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles. We hardly notice them. We don’t consciously instruct them to bend. They’re just there, functioning unnoticed. Until something goes wrong – we twist them, strain them, break them. Or for no apparent reason, they just start aching. Suddenly those joints and the many movements they enable us to make become precious.

 

We could cite many other examples: Beating hearts, air in our lungs, clothes to wear, air conditioning when it’s hot, heat when it’s cold outside. It’s easy to take our loved ones for granted, something I try hard not to do. But it happens sometimes. 

 

Another thing we’re inclined to take for granted – and most important of all – is our relationship with God. For atheists and agnostics, of course, this isn’t a problem. But for those of us who profess to be followers of Jesus, we sadly can take Him for granted as well.

We might attend church regularly, spend a few minutes reading the Bible once in a while, pray before meals (when we remember), and act appropriately pious when the situation dictates. But how many of us can declare along with the apostle Paul, “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)?

 

When a crisis arises, we’re quick to call out, “Lord, I need you!” When confronted with a difficult, important decision, we remember God. When a loved one is experiencing a serious illness, we pray and ask Him to intervene. When we discover there’s too much month at the end of our pay, our thoughts shift toward the Lord and plead for His provision.

 

However, when all is going well or circumstances seem manageable, our attitude is more like, “I’ve got this. No need to bother God with this one. I can handle it.” Kind of like pushing Him aside and saying, “I’ll let You know when I need You,” and moving on with our lives.

 

It’s interesting that in the second and third chapters of Revelation, where the apostle John records a vision God gave him while he was on the island of Patmos, taking God for granted was among the grievous sins of the seven churches in the province of Asia.

 

To the church in Ephesus, John was directed to write, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance…. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:2-5).

 

And to the church in Laodicea, John was inspired to tell the believers, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of My mouth…. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:15-20).

 

We commonly use that last verse, “I stand at the door and knock,” in an evangelistic sense. That Christ is knocking at the door of a person’s heart waiting to be invited in. And in one respect that’s true. But the context here is the church in Laodicea, people already claiming to trust in Jesus. They were neither cold nor hot – essentially, they were taking their relationship with the Lord for granted. To use a contemporary word, “Meh.”

 

Believers in Ephesus had “lost their first love,” apparently becoming preoccupied with other things. The Laodiceans were “neither hot nor cold,” perhaps going through the motions but not demonstrating the joy and zeal for Jesus Christ that sets us apart from other people.

 

Granted, these God-inspired words were written nearly 2,000 years ago, but tragically many congregations – and many professing Christians – today also can be described in the same terms: having lost their first love, or being lukewarm – neither cold nor hot.

 

When I sense this in my own life, I try to recall and pray these words of repentance from King David in Psalm 51:10-12:

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

 

Considering everything the Lord does for us, much of which we don’t even recognize, He doesn’t deserve to be taken for granted. Maybe, as with the folks in ancient Ephesus and Laodicea, it’s time for us to repent.