students of jesus

There’s an old story about a man and a beggar.

Each day the man took the subway to work and passed a beggar on the steps, and each morning the man tossed a dime to the beggar. Day after day he went to work, and through the numbing power of routine the man tossed the dime without giving a thought to his charity or the beggar who received it. It became automatic. The man never slowed down, and the beggar never said “thank you.” The ritual of the dime became part of each man’s day.

Then the man went away on vacation for two weeks. No more daily routine, subways, or beggars. When the man returned to the city he headed down the subway steps, tossed a dime to the beggar, and kept walking. But the beggar stood up and shouted, “Hey! Where have you been? You owe me a dollar-forty!”

This is the parable of gratitude turned stale, of thankfulness morphed to entitlement. What happens when life becomes so routine we forget that even small blessings are the gift of another?

There are some peculiar temptations to living among prosperity. Our experiences can cause us to miss the Lord’s most basic instructions. For example, Jesus taught his followers to pray, “give us this day our daily bread.” But those of us who live in a society of abundance do not even understand such a request. It’s as if we might think, “Daily bread? I’ve already got that covered, God—but if you could help with mortgages and student loans and retirement, I’d appreciate that.”

Gratitude in the midst of routine keeps us grounded to the daily mercies of God. It turns out he’s behind the everyday and the unremarkable events as well. His mercies are new every morning; many of them go un-noticed.

Ask Yourself: When is the last time I actually prayed that God would provide food for me, today?

Live Into It: Daily life is certainly routine, but there’s no reason we can’t build new routines into our day, ones that are designed to keep us mindful of his goodness—and his presence.