Taking God for Granted

My last post mentioned that Caleb took his first steps... to emphasize my infrequency of posting, Caleb is now running everywhere and daily our house is hit by Hurricane Caleb! He is such a huge blessing in our lives that we totally don't deserve, and I praise God daily for giving him to us.

I'm reading Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper currently, which has quickly moved into my "favorite books" list! She talks about the importance of repitition when it comes to speaking of God to your children, referencing Deuteronomy 11.19:

You shall teach [God's words] to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

She says: "[A] sign of God's wisdom is that, with enough repetition, the very activites, no matter how mundane they are, will trigger thoughts of God in our minds (p.35)." Even if you are single, or married without children, this totally applies to every one of us! And for me, I want this so badly! I want it to become so natural in our home to talk about God, in EVERYTHING we do. Even when I'm not at home and with my family (say at work or out shopping), I want it to be natural to talk with people I meet about the God I love. And I always want to exhibit that kind of lifestyle for Caleb any any future children. Noel shares this excerpt from one of her husband's sermons:

God does not like to be taken for granted. It flies in the face of his eternal purposes-that he be known and loved and praised and enjoyed. And it makes us superficial people... When the main thing is missing, what's left is distorted and superficial, whatever it is. If someone says, "Oh, that's just religion. You can't expect everything to be religion," I answer,"It's not religion. It's reality. God mde the world and everything in it. He owns the erth and everyone on it. He is the main actor in the world. He is guiding the history of every people and nation to their appointed goal. Everything, without exception, has to do with God and gets its main meaning from God. And not to show this, but to take this for granted, is to be superficial..." It is simply impossible to overstate the importance of God. And he does not like being taken for granted. The psalm does not say, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be taken for granted." It says, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised." (Ps 96.4)
-John Piper

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be superficial and take God for granted. However I know that I too often do. This book has just been a great reminder of where I'm at right now and where I really need to be. I highly recommend you read it!

I pray that today you are reminded of God's greatness and His Sovereignty!