Taken for Granted

I heard someone say the other day, "I don't want to take these things for granted." I got to thinking about the phrase. What do we mean by "take it for granted"? What he meant (and most of us, too) is to fail to fully appreciate something. Originally, it meant to assume something without questioning it. But I was thinking down a different path.

Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father" (John 6:65). In Acts Paul was on a ship in trouble, but was told in a dream, "Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you" (Acts 27:24). In his letter to the church at Philippi Paul wrote, "It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake" (Php 1:29). (That's all kinds of interesting, isn't it? We were granted to believe; we didn't do it on our own. We are granted to suffer; most of us would not see that as a gift. Paul didn't mind seeing both as a gift.) Peter wrote, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire" (2 Peter 1:3-4). (In case you missed it, he used "granted" twice in that sentence.) Apparently "granted" refers to those things that are given -- a gift.

Paul asked, "What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Cor 4:7). Everything we have is a gift from God. Everything we are and have are granted from God. If we decided to take everything -- from salvation to life to family and friends to skills and talents to jobs to "stuff" and on to everything -- for "granted" in the sense that it is used in the verses I pointed to, perhaps we could become very grateful people. In which case taking things for granted would be a very healthy mindset. God, grant me eyes to see that everything I have is granted, a gift from You.