An Attitude of Gratitude
“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.’ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.’ And she said, ‘Yes, for so much.’ But Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.”
There are a multitude of things we can learn, discuss, and apply from this brief passage of Scripture. But my purpose is not to invoke fear or discuss the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, nor is it to dive into the topic of the discipline of the Lord. My purpose, rather, is to inspire an attitude of gratitude. This passage, along with many others, reminds me that every breath we take is a gift from God. In other words, we don’t take another breath unless He wills it.
It is one of those things that is very easy to take for granted, probably because it happens automatically, without any reasoning or thought. But it is a gift, just like being able to see the beauty of God’s creation in color, to hear the call of a loon on a quiet lake at sunset, and to taste the subtle nuances of flavor in a carefully prepared meal. But those things are bonuses; the gift of breath is the gift of physical life in the earthly bodies He has formed for us. Without it, we perish.
Genesis 2:7 – "…then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."
Isaiah 42:5-6a – "Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 'I am the LORD…'”
The point is every single day that we wake up we should thank God that we woke up! We should start each day with an attitude of gratitude, recognizing that the God of all creation has granted us another day of life according to His will. It is not purely happenstance or a result of simple biological function. We are created uniquely for God’s sovereign purposes and are hand-crafted per His incredibly detailed design.
Luke 12:7a – “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”
Acts 17:28a – “…for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;”
Job 12:10 – “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”
The number of our days is determined by the Lord. In fact, David points out in the following verse from Psalms that every moment of our lives is mapped out by the Lord.
Psalm 139:16 – "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." (NLT)
Jesus rhetorically asks in Matthew 6:27: “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life?” Obviously, the answer is, “No one.” Let that sink in. We don’t even have control over an hour! In fact, James tells us that it is actually arrogant to think that we have some say in the matter.
James 4:13-16 – "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit' – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."
So, let’s not fret, as if we can somehow control or determine the number of our days, but rather, let’s start each day by wholeheartedly thanking God for every breath, every hour, every day that He has chosen to give us to use for His glory!
“Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!”
