Thank God for Cheesy Poofs And Buffy And Pirates...

I haven't been doing so hot on getting my devotions or Bible readings done lately. But this morning, I whipped out an old copy of Men of Integrity to do a devotion. As iIread, I found myself disagreeing with one small, unintentional message of the writing. But it led to some neat thoughts about God.

The idea was the devotion writer had once felt challenged by a speaker who suggested the congregation begin each day by thanking God for 25 things. I have no beef with this idea. Good stuff--all to often I focus on what I don't have, not what I do. To oftern, I get busy asking and not busy appreciating. I even did this today and it really made me praise God for the way he provides and realize yet again that God is worthy of praise regardless of what I have or what I think I need.

But then, I hit the part that got me thinking. The writer said, "I really tried to be sincere, but on some days I would get desperate and I would find myself thanking God for The Tonight Show or the Endangered Species Act or a good burp. "

Hmmmm. I guess the implied idea here that bugged me was that some things are worthy of being thanked for and others aren't. I've been known to lead group prayers with my friends and thank God for bowling or the White Sox or fondue. And you know, I mean those prayers serisouly. I think whatever we find joy in, whatever God uses to bring us closer to him or each other should be lifted up as worship.

Shouldn't God be acknowledged for giving some senator the love of nature to endorse the Endangered Species Act? Why should I thank God for my paycheck, but not for a movie that made me laugh really hard? Or the joy he allows me to find in silly things like watching baseball or managing a fantasy football team? If bowling allows my friends and I to enjoy one another, why not lift that up as a blessing? One of my pet peeves is people who burp loudly in public--but, hey, I know the joy and release that comes from a good one. Thank God invented that, huh? Otherwise, we might explode.

All truth is God's truth. All that is good comes from God. No, I don't think that God invented bowling or wrote The Tonight Show, but he invented the people who did. He wired me to want to see stories told via movies. He built me to like the joy and competition of being a sports fan. To enjoy these things is to be who he created me to be. So that's whay I will thank God for the using even the silly things in my life. That's why I will thank God for bean bag chairs, action figures and monkeys.