Tag: gift

Thirty-Six

What’s going on today? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I thought today I could continue book reviews, for while I have been reviewing McCormick’s book and I’m finally done with it, I was reading other books in the meanwhile, one of which I posted a review of Friday. That could be done, but we have a lot to do today and I want to have just a fun post today. Why? Today is the day I celebrate thirty-six years of living on this planet.

So let’s start right there. Celebrate. Why? Because life is a gift and a gift is to be celebrated. I can work to sustain my life, but I can do nothing to give myself life. That life comes from God alone. We each can view our lives as gifts from God or curses, I choose to live mine as a gift.

I was telling my wife Allie yesterday that while I am physically mature and am of age, there is still a part of me that is a boy and that part will never die. There is a part that says life is an adventure to be lived. This world can be like a big playground and I should wake up every day waiting to see what adventures the day has for me.

It really is an adventure also. Every day we get up, we have a chance to do something good for the world. In my own field of apologetics, I think of what Peter Kreeft once said. Apologetics is the closest someone comes to saving the world. I really like that quote. This is the battle of good and evil after all. I often compare it to the Matrix. Those we argue against are not really the enemy, but are unknowingly being used by the enemy. The ones we argue most often against are ironically the ones we’re fighting for.

Of course, something that makes today special is having Allie by my side. I have in my own bride a gift no one else could have ever given me. Just like in the Christian walk, in marriage, you are the gift you give to your spouse and they are the gift they give to you. In Christianity, the gift Christ gives you is Himself and you give yourself to Him.

It’s hard to believe there’s been 36 years. I still have so much more of a difference I want to make in this world and so much I want to do. Yet today I think there will be a lot of time spent with fun things. The Mrs. has already made me blueberry muffins for breakfast and this afternoon, she’ll be making me peanut butter cookies. My in-laws meanwhile are going to take me out to a pizzeria here in Atlanta. I’m definitely also looking forward to getting the mail today to seeing what all is in it. That will probably extend for a few days. Sometimes mail is late getting here after all.

Thank you to everyone who has sent birthday wishes so far! Thank you for your friendship and liking the material put out here at Deeper Waters! I owe you all so much!

In Christ,
Nick Peters

 

The Gift of Creation

Why is there so much in our world? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters!

Recently at our small group, I told the people that it’s quite easy to worry about the future in our current economic state, at least if you’re an American like myself. Yet when we come to Matthew 6, we are told to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. We are told in the Psalms that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. We are told in Romans 8 that He who gave us His Son will most graciously give us all things. We are told in Luke 12 that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give the flock the Kingdom.

So why is there creation?

I have no desire to give a total answer to this. That would require something book-length. Something I notice in the passages is that we will be taken care of and that God does not need anything. Of course, God does everything for His glory, but it is not because He needs glory. It is not God who is benefited when we glorify Him. We do not give Him something He lacks. It is we who are benefited.

It can be hard to believe we will be, but at times like that, we need to learn to not listen to our emotions and to our fears but to the voice of Scripture. Please don’t think I’m someone who’s mastered this as well. There can be nights where I wake up and have a hard time going back to sleep due to worrying about a financial situation.

When we’re tempted to think about this, then consider, God gave us His Son. He is giving us the Kingdom. We think it is too much to ask that God will give us our daily bread then? We think it is beyond His ability to supply us? Of course, we are to be good stewards of what He gives us, something many of us can work on, but we should recognize they are His good gifts.

Could it be then that part of the purpose of creation is for God to show His grace and riches towards us? Is it because God wants to bless us? Why not? Does He not give us His Kingdom and His Son so He can show us the abundance of His glory? Doesn’t Ephesians 2 teach us that it will take all eternity for God to show the abundance of His grace towards us?

Do we think God is stingy? With what could He be stingy? You can take the richest person in the world today and even they can’t give everyone everything they want without going broke themselves. No matter how much wealth such a person has, they still have a limited amount of it.

God is not like that. He has unlimited wealth and He is the only one who if more was wanted, could create more immediately. This is the same one who fed the 5,000, not counting women and children, and yet it is to be seen as difficult to think that He will supply day to day needs?

In fact, if anything, Scripture shows us God likes to bless us. He likes to bless the same way a husband can love to adore his wife with gifts or parents love to go crazy with their credit cards for Christmas.

Could it be we just don’t trust God? While we can realize He would not be benefited by us, we should also realize it would not really do Him much to deny us. Do we think God is petty and spiteful?

Now the question we have to ask is are we doing what Matthew 6 says? Are we seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness? We cannot think God will bless us if we are living in rejection of Him. Of course, we do not obligate Him to bless us by our goodness. We realize that is grace, but we are in a much better place to receive when we live in obedience to Him.

Note also if creation is the gift to provide us, this is something for those in the environmental movement, and in fact those outside, to consider. The creation is a gift to us, and we are to take care of it properly like any other gift. We can use it, but we are not to abuse it. It is our gift, but ultimately from the hand of God. It is our Father’s world.

Let’s try to rest easy fellow Christians and seek the Kingdom and trust God to care for us then.

In Christ,
Nick Peters