Читать книгу Admiring and Applauding God - R. Bruce Stevens - Страница 9

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

—Deut 8:18

• We owe our abilities in life to a variety of sources, e.g., our parents, teachers, professors, etc., and from our own study and life experiences.

• God is an Ability-giver. As the Israelites were poised to enter the promised land, they were warned not to forget the Lord or mistakenly think they had attained that land or prospered in it due to their own abilities. We face a similar temptation, forgetting that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jas 1:17). God gives us our parents, our unique genetic code, our health, our temperament, and opportunities to go to school, get a job, and more. Our possessions and accomplishments have very little to do with us but everything to do with God. If we were born in another time or place, our lives would be so different. What we have in life and what we have attained in life ultimately comes from God.

• Praise God, our Ability-giver.