READ: PSALM 100:1-5; COLOSSIANS 2:6-7; 3:15-17; 4:2

Take a deep breath. Focus on the way it feels as the air enters your body. We are breathing all the time, but how often do we really think about our breathing or take time to be grateful for what those breaths are doing for our bodies? Isn’t it an amazing thing that God has given us the ability to breathe? We all need to breathe in order to survive. And breathing is just one of the many things we tend to do without even thinking about it. But it’s so good to slow down, notice how God is providing for our bodies, and let that move us to gratitude. As Acts 17:25 says, “He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”

As you sit down to your next meal, pause for a moment and really look at the food that’s in front of you. Think about where it came from and how it came to be yours. Think about the benefits this food offers your body—the nutrients and energy it provides. Often, we eat without really thinking about what we’re doing. But it’s good to savor the foods we enjoy. And, whether we like the taste of a certain food or not, it still gives our bodies what we need to keep going. As we take time to be grateful for what we have to eat, we can rest knowing that we have a God who provides us with food (Genesis 9:3; Psalm 136:25; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 4:12-13).

The next time you lay down to rest, really think about the feel of the bed beneath you. Think about the place where you are laying. Think about how beautiful it is that you can take a break from everything and just spend time resting. We need sleep to go on, but we don’t always think of sleep as a gift from God. Yet Psalm 127:2 says God “grants sleep to those he loves.”

There is much that is a part of our daily lives that’s easy to take for granted. Food, breath, sleep…these are basic necessities, and we don’t always think of them as gifts. We are nothing without the one who created us, though, and whether we realize it or not, we are all relying on Him to provide us with our next breath and our next meal (Matthew 5:45). He is always loving us and caring for us. We have so much to be grateful for, even in those simple everyday moments when all we’re doing is eating or laying down to sleep. • Emily Acker

• The Bible says Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” and “in him all things hold together” (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17). And He died and rose so we could live forever with Him. Consider taking some time to thank Jesus for giving you “life and breath and everything else.”

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)