“So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.”
– Hosea 12:6

“Why are they playing so lousy?” That’s the question I muttered to myself as I sat in the stands watching my favorite team’s performance. Dropped passes, silly penalties and lack of focus were allowing an inferior opponent stay in the game. As I squirmed in my seat getting more and more frustrated with each play, I realized that I had become spoiled by the past success of the team. They had been winning and in most cases they had been winning convincingly. As a fan, I had fallen into the trap of expecting my team to always play well. They had done it in the past so surely great things would just naturally happen in the future. I remembered some wisdom I heard long ago—past success does not guarantee future success. How easy it is for us to just expect good things to happen! How easy it is to take our good fortune and blessings for granted.

As I reflect back on that experience, I must admit that I often do the same thing with God. All too often I fall into a false sense of security when all is going well. To be truthful, I sometimes even forget about God and think that that’s the way things are supposed to be. Then when my life turns into a disaster, I want to know what the heck is going on! “God, are You still there?” Taking God for granted is dangerous. When we forget to grow our relationship with God, He will find a way to get our attention. Relationships take hard work to grow. Do you feel like you’re taking God for granted? Spend some time with Him by reading His Word, praying and listening. He has never been closer.

Heavenly Father, help me to grow in my relationship with You today. May I never take You for granted or take credit for the blessings You give me. Amen.