By: Kevin Burgun           

Have you ever been around someone who is spoiled?  It is sort of like drinking Diet Coke Lime – an awful experience.  Spoiled people take for granted what they have or what they have been given by others.  I was sitting in church one Sunday morning recently and I remember smirking as the worship leader tried to inspire the congregation to worship.  I thought, "It's not our fault we aren't being inspired or aren't moved."  I looked at those around me and saw some yawning, others looking at cell phones (probably texting each other) and there was one person with his hands in the air, there is always one person, isn't there?  I have heard the repeated cries of "What can we do about worship?" over and over.  The more I thought about it, the less obvious the answer became.  And the more obvious that less obvious became; I realized that most of the responsibility, if not all, lay at my feet.  The realization was enough to even make ice cold Diet Pepsi Lime taste sour. 

I am spoiled.  I realize the value of a dollar.  I don't take many things for granted.  But I take God for granted.  I take God's grace for granted.  I take God's love for granted.  I take my salvation for granted.  I take everything that God has blessed me with for granted.  I might say God blessed me with a new car, but I don't see Him paying for it.  God gave me life?  I mean, in a way, I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad had something to do with it.  And is my job really from God?  I'm the one who aced the interview.  I earn the paychecks.  I give ten percent; God doesn't give me ninety percent.  We are spoiled.  We no longer think in blessings, we think in "deservings."  As a Christian, a good, tithing, caring, generous Christian, I deserve certain things.  We call them blessings because it sounds less conceited.  And so when I stand in the community of believers, I am not moved to worship God, because I have taken Him for granted.

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