Ah, simplicity! Holy Father, the simple gifts often seem hidden from our eyes. How long have I allowed the simple things before me to stand patiently, silently, and faithfully at my side…while I fretted, toiled, and rushed ahead? Yet, somehow, the simple was always before me. By embracing this simplicity, I have found gratitude…and wonder!
When we turn our backs on God’s pure gifts, we begin to demand bigger and better “gifts”. Have we come to believe that the world, the flesh, and the devil could satisfy our deepest needs with empty offerings? Or as believers, do we know that every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of Lights- who does not change like shifting shadows? (James 1:17)
Oh, I see! God’s gifts, like Himself, are changeless; the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Don’t you see? The world demands the latest and greatest. Trying to satisfy this appetite is complicated. All our striving and competing for status and opportunity is lost with last year’s fad. Is our worth truly tied to the phone we carry, or the activities in which our children are enrolled? Do people, like technology, really become less valuable the older they get? Our culture, desperate for meaningful change, instead puts on another pair of shoes… and continues the race….
But God does not change. And neither do His gifts, pure, and deep as the heavens over the sea. Such simple gifts…too numerous to count: Feeling the warmth of accomplishment like a soothing, aromatic bath. Enjoying the contentment that comes after a full day spent completing those basic duties you know you ought. Turning your lamp on low and sinking into a soft bed to read a few pages of a novel or God’s Word. Journaling a few thoughts about the day. Rising the next morning to see the sun highlighting dark, lovely silhouettes of bare trees. Admiring the branches entwined in an intricate pattern against the horizon, bands of blue-grey, gold and silvery white providing a backdrop. Winter trees at dawn!
Simple joys, new every morning. Wild and sweet, bouncing forms of baby and boys come to snuggle with Mommy in bed, fight over who may kiss whom, and wonder what’s for “breb-breps” (breakfast), all the while exclaiming, “Mommy, I love you werwy much!”
Simple treats. A hot cup of tea—nicely creamed and sugared by a young lady-daughter with a servant’s heart. A cool, heavenly bite of cheesecake created by her younger sister, an exuberant lady-to-be. Or a son, half boy/half man, who reads perched on the steps, with eyes a-twinkling whenever his noisy outbursts have annoyed yet another female in his house-o-males! (Okay, that last “blessing” may have been a stretch!)
Simple gifts? There are so many which come wrapped in the joys of accomplishing the simple tasks set before you. Godliness with contentment is truly great gain. (I Timothy 6:6) Take one final example: a grateful husband, smiling fondly upon his wife’s cooking, her beauty, and her wisdom in looking after the affairs of his household and beloved children. Although your blessings may come wrapped in unique packaging, for what more could you wish? Know the joys of simple gifts!
“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” I Timothy 6:7
Elnora White
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