Things We Take for Granted

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

AIM

To lead listeners to think about some of the things in life we take for granted, in particular, our health, our heritage and heaven.

INTRODUCTION

Last week we saw a lot of spring rains cause severe flooding which forced us to dismiss all of our Sunday activities. The road to our church campus was underwater because the creek banks were overflowing. Needless to say, it was a very frustrating weekend for me. Our Lord used the flood waters and cancellations to inspire the message which I am about to share with you. One thought continued to surface in my mind throughout last weekend and through this past week. I would like to believe you took for granted how you were going to enjoy your weekend, get up on Sunday morning, enjoy a nice breakfast, take a shower, get dressed so you could attend Sunday School and morning worship just like you do each and every week. I know I took all of these things for granted. This is one of the reasons, the Lord inspired me to think about things we take for granted. Unfortunately, there are many things we take for granted, but I want to spend a few minutes talking about three areas, in particular, of things we take for granted.

HEALTH

It is fair to think most of us take our health for granted. We may think we will always be healthy because we have always been healthy. I am confident, there are plenty of testimonies in this room about how life changed for your family and you, at the snap of a finger, because of a major health challenge. Perhaps your thinking was much in line with the words our Lord inspired James to write. Perhaps like James, you have said, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and...” Little did you realize how things could change so quickly. Perhaps we can learn some great lessons from Job.

Job 2:1–10 ESV

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job

We need to be reminded how Job lived a very successful, comfortable and luxurious life before he lost everything, including his possessions, his family and his health. We also need to know our health can have a negative effect on our spiritual lives. This doesn’t mean you will fail to have faith in God and trust Him to meet your needs. It merely means poor health can lead us to have spiritual setbacks because of fear, doubt and depression. We should never take our health for granted.

HERITAGE

It is also fair to think most of us take our heritage for granted. It is disheartening to think about the way this nation has changed in my lifetime. There are many of us who can remember a time when our country was defined by good morals and respect for others. In the past, America has been a place where a person could safely walk down most streets alone without any fear of being harmed. I recently listened to a older man sharing with a younger adult the reasons our nation has changed. I really wanted to interrupt the conversation and say, The main reason for the problems in our country is because we pushed God out of our lives and our institutions. The psalmist teaches us the blessings of a nation come from the Lord.

Psalm 33:12 ESV

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

The writer of Proverbs tells us what happens when the wicked rule over a nation.

Proverbs 29:2 ESV

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

We rejoice when the righteous increase. Have you read what Jerry Vines calls, “The Song of the Soul Winner” in ?

Psalm 126:5–6 ESV

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:5-6

Many of us have learned what happens when we take our heritage for granted.

HEAVEN

Finally, it is fair to think most of us take heaven for granted. The thinking and comments about those who die should cause us great concern. It is no secret our country has been moving away from God and the Bible for decades. There are times when we marvel at the ideas people have about God and the Bible. The movement away from God has also led many to accept a philosophy which believes man is basically good person. Many have also gone as far as believing the heresy that somehow, someway, someday everyone is going to get to heaven. Jesus was very clear about Him being the only possible way for anyone to get to heaven.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Some think they are going to heaven because they are very religious. Listen to some words Jesus spoke to a religious leader.

John 3:1–3 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John

Jesus told Nicodemus the purpose of His coming was to save those who are lost and in need of salvation.

John 3:16–20 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

John 3:

I have said this before and it is worth saying again. Folks, Jesus is not the best way to get to heaven. He is the only way to get to heaven. Your family, your friends and you will not go to heaven because you were born in America, your parents were Christians or because you are a member of the church. You will only go to heaven because you have acknowledged you are a sinner and realized there is nothing you can do to save yourself. After hearing the gospel, you decided to repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

Acts 4:12 ESV

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

You must know you have been washed in the blood of Jesus and saved by His grace. Never take for granted someone is going to heaven just because you know them and they are good people. What things are you taking for granted in your life? Is it your health, your heritage or heaven?

APPLICATION

Do you take your health for granted? Please keep in mind, the Bible teaches your life is like “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” The truth is “you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” You may be healthy at the moment, but you can lose your health before this day is over.

Are you old enough to remember a time in our country when we had good morals and had respect for everyone in our communities? What are you doing to help make this country be a better place to live? What are you doing to share the gospel and win the lost in our country?

Do you take heaven for granted? Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you taken for granted your family and friends are going to heaven? Have you heard them say they know Jesus as their Savior and Lord? Are you trying to reach your family and friends with the gospel?