Is there anything you have that is not a gift from God? Consider carefully before you answer "yes". Some might say "I work hard; I earned every dollar I ever made". But what if you had been born in a third world country where there were no jobs? You wouldn't have the opportunity to earn anything. God placed you in a situation where you could make the most of your abilities. Others might say "I'm smart; my intelligence got me where I am today". But who gave you your intelligence? God. And again, who put you in a situation where you could get a good education and make the most of the intelligence you were given? God. There are plenty of smart, hard working people in this world who would excel at any number of things if they only had the opportunities we have in the USA. It's sad that so many people in this country don't take advantage of the opportunities that God has so graciously given them. (What's even sadder is those who are healthy & successful constantly complaining about things that are trivial in comparison.) That leads me to my last point: some might say "I have freedom of choice - I decide what to be or not to be, no one else". To an extent that's true, but then who gave you the freedom of choice you boast about? God. The bottom line is that God created us and the world we live in: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the bodies and minds we use to accomplish anything, great or small. Consider 1 Corinthians 4:7: "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"
In Paul's speech to the Areopagus (Acts 17), he says the following about God: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being." So I ask the question again: Is there anything you have that is not a gift from God? There is only one correct answer: no.
