“Christianity does not echo the injunction to get out there and take what’s ours (and not let anyone get in our way). Instead, it has the audacity to claim the opposite: any good thing that you’re going to get in life is going to be something you receive. Existence itself is something given to us rather than earned by us. Furthermore, the incarnate Son of God represents pure gift, a light shining on those who dwell in darkness, the revelation of God’s love in all its vulnerability and impossibility. Like all great gifts, he arrives in that stable unbidden and of God’s own initiative—a sweet and glorious surprise to a world that lay ‘in sin and error pining.’ Those familiar with the rest of the Bible know that Jesus was anything but a reward for human obedience and faithfulness.”
—David Zahl in “The Big Relief”
My prayer this week: Lord, give me the eyes to see “every good and perfect gift” in my life … and to recognize that they all originate “from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). May I not boast in my own deeds, but in your grace and mercy to provide every blessing. May I not grasp with envy but give thanks with a grateful heart.
