Girl Tosses Away Baseball Caught By FatherYou probably saw a clip of it on the news. Last Tuesday, a young father in the stands of a Phillies game caught his first foul ball, as the nation watched. With cameras still trained on him, the father then handed his prize to his three-year-old daughter, Emily Monforto. Moments later, without knowing any better, little Emily tossed the ball back into the field. Emily’s father, Steve Monforto, was stunned to say the least – but he nevertheless took his little girl in his arms and hugged her, as he no doubt was thinking something like, “If only you knew how special that gift was before you threw it away!” LOL
No doubt our own heavenly father feels the same way towards us when we, without knowing any better, sometimes “toss away” the gifts he has given us. I’m talking about gifts of peace, comfort, direction, healing, and other blessings – gifts that we fail to utilize because we don’t realize they exist or we fail to understand their potency. When we fail to study God’s word and then seize our heavenly father’s blessings and promises, it’s like we’re tossing away those very gifts of his! For instance, how many times have God’s children been in a stressful and trying situation, only to pass-up God’s gift of peace to guard their hearts and minds (Phil 4:6+7) because they failed to present their requests to God? How many times have God’s gifts of healing been passed-up because we failed to pray for one another (James 5:16)? Often we toss away these wonderful gifts of God because (like little Emily) we’re oblivious to them! And God, being the loving heavenly father that he is, then wraps his arms around us and wishes, “If only he read my word – if only he knew what amazing gifts could be his right now!”
Here’s the challenge: Stop tossing away your heavenly father’s gifts! In other words, study his word, make note of his promises and decrees (gifts), and then appreciate them appropriately by keeping them for yourself (and seeing them come to fruition in your life) instead of tossing them by the wayside!
No doubt our own heavenly father feels the same way towards us when we, without knowing any better, sometimes “toss away” the gifts he has given us. I’m talking about gifts of peace, comfort, direction, healing, and other blessings – gifts that we fail to utilize because we don’t realize they exist or we fail to understand their potency. When we fail to study God’s word and then seize our heavenly father’s blessings and promises, it’s like we’re tossing away those very gifts of his! For instance, how many times have God’s children been in a stressful and trying situation, only to pass-up God’s gift of peace to guard their hearts and minds (Phil 4:6+7) because they failed to present their requests to God? How many times have God’s gifts of healing been passed-up because we failed to pray for one another (James 5:16)? Often we toss away these wonderful gifts of God because (like little Emily) we’re oblivious to them! And God, being the loving heavenly father that he is, then wraps his arms around us and wishes, “If only he read my word – if only he knew what amazing gifts could be his right now!”
Here’s the challenge: Stop tossing away your heavenly father’s gifts! In other words, study his word, make note of his promises and decrees (gifts), and then appreciate them appropriately by keeping them for yourself (and seeing them come to fruition in your life) instead of tossing them by the wayside!
