So, I am working on a teaching for Sunday about contentment and generosity.

And I stumbled across a word I don’t find often in the Bible; a word I don’t think many of us equate with God.

But there it is … right there in the closing passages of Paul’s first letter to Timothy:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (6:17)

Now, amidst the commands to the rich, we might miss it.

We might miss the fullness, the sheer weight of that last phrase …

“… God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

Um … everything?

For our enjoyment?

Yup. That is what it says!

How beautiful and good is that?

On this gorgeous fall day still ablaze with the oranges and reds of the maple trees, may I suggest an experiment?

As you go through your day eating and drinking and laughing and talking and working and smiling and listening and looking, try to see everything … and I mean everything … as the rich provision of a God who, at a very deep level, wants us to actually enjoy the good gifts he freely provides.

I am going to start right now … by enjoying my dog and my legs and my neighborhood.

I am going to take a walk of pure enjoyment!