Jul 28, 20172 min read

Things We Take For Granted...

One of the "Culture Shocks" you experience when you live in a mission field outside the United States is the lack of convenience.

In the states, you can pull into a Walmart, have new tires and a new battery installed in your car, pick up your pharmacy prescription, buy a closet full of clothes, get a new pair of prescription eyeglasses, have your hair washed and cut, cash your check, buy a new cell phone and cellular plan, buy a TV, laptop computer, mouse, and printer, buy groceries, and eat lunch at McDonalds or Subway... all in the same place, under the same roof, and at discount prices!

That is NOT the case in most mission fields. More often than not, to do all those things I listed above would take at least a day or maybe two. Pretty much all those things I listed would require separate trips to different locations IF those items were available at all. (McDonald's and Subway are not here and yes, I am having withdrawals).

Convenience is something that we often take for granted in the USA.

I know I did.

That, of course, made me think about how often we take for granted God and the things of God. We don't really mean to,.. but still, we so often do.

Paul wrote the following to the members of the church at Corinth;

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV

The Message renders the verse this way;

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. 2 Corinthians 13:5 MSG

We often just "drift along" taking God and the things of God for granted.

Are you "solid in the faith" or are you taking God for granted? If you've been taking God or the things of God for granted, "do something about it!"

Peter said this toward the close of his first epistle;