The Gift or the Giver?

When was the last time you were so excited about something that you literally jumped up in down with joy?  I remember countless times in my childhood...but I think the most recent time was when Justin popped the question, a moment I had been waiting for my entire life!  But I don't remember at what point I thanked God for that moment.  Don't get me wrong, I thank God for my husband everyday (okay, well almost everyday...), but I'm not sure if I ever thanked God for our proposal and the beginning of such a joyous and wonderful chapter.

1 Samuel 2:1 - Then Hannah prayed and said,

                     "My heart exults in the Lord;

                      My horn is exalted in the Lord,

                      My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,

                      Because I rejoice in my salvation."

(If you haven't read her history, I would check out 1 Samuel 1, or for a brief run down check out my previous blogs: here and then here.)

Though she never says his name, Hannah is praising the Lord for her long-awaited son, Samuel.  The important thing to note here is that, "she overlooks the gift, and praises the giver; whereas most forget the giver and fasten only on the gift" (Henry).  You cannot miss the joy in her words here (and this is only the beginning - her praise continues through verse 10).  

Let's take a minute and think of the definition of the word "good."  Okay, well not literally - but if I were to define it simply, my dictionary entry would look like this:

good - God.

Yep, that's all my definition would include.  God IS good.  And I think we forget that a lot of the time.  You see if God IS good, then everything in our lives that is good, is Him.  Simple as that.  And how often do we thank Him for ALL of the good in our lives?  I might literally leap for joy...but am I giving Him credit where credit is due?  More often than not, I don't.  And I assume that is the same for most of us...

I pray for myself today, and for each on of you that reads this, that I can be more like Hannah.  For everything good thing that I encounter or receive, I want to immediately recognize God.  I challenge you today to look past the gift and praise the Giver.