June 23 Daily Devotional

God, the Giver of life

The body is a gift from God, and therefore we can be quite happy and certain in our minds that He will somehow or other provide the means whereby these bodies of ours can be covered and clothed. Here we come to one of His great principles.... There is nothing of which this modern generation needs to be reminded so much as just this ... we have forgotten ... that the things we enjoy in this life are the gift of God How often do we thank God for the gift of life itself? We tend to think that with our scientific knowledge we can understand the whole origin and essence of life. So we think of these things in terms of natural causes and inevitable processes.... [But] where does life come from? Read your modern scientists on the origin of life and you will find that they cannot explain it.

They cannot bridge the gulf from the inorganic to the organic.... Where has this principle called life come from? What is its origin? If you say it started with the inorganic somehow becoming organic, I ask where did the inorganic come from? . . . And there is only one satisfactory answer—God is the Giver of life ... it is God who has given us the gift of life and being and existence. It is a tremendous conception. We are not merely individuals thrown up or thrown out by an evolutionary pro­cess. God is concerned about us one by one. We should never have come into this world if God had not willed it. We must take a firm hold and grasp of this great principle.

There should never be a day in our lives when we fail to thank God for the gift of life and food and existence, and the marvel and wonder of the body that He has given us. These things are solely and entirely His gift. And, of course, if we fail to realize that, we shall fail everywhere.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 114-15

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“Text reproduced from ‘A First Book of Daily Readings’ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, published by Epworth Press 1970 & 1977 © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. Used with permission.”

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