We Already Have It

I heard a song on the radio on Saturday morning. Ever since then I’ve been back to the station’s website looking for the song title and artist so I could download it from iTunes. I finally gave up this morning, but did one last search to see if I could find it myself.

I did. I have it. It was already sitting right there on my computer. It’s never been played before this morning, not even once.

Reminds me of a chapter in Gordon MacDonald’s book Ordering Your Private World called “The Sadness of a Book Never Read.” MacDonald and his wife found a used book that looked like it had been well-read. He writes:

When Gail began to leaf through the old book, she discovered that the printer had failed to properly cut the pages, and many of them could not be opened until one took a blade and cut them apart. The uncut pages were clear evidence that the book had never been read! It looked on the outside as if it had been constantly used. But if it had, it was only in gracing a library shelf, or playing doorstop, or providing height to a small child so that he could sit on the table while he ate. The book may have been used, but it certainly had never been read.

It’s a good reminder to stop looking to acquire more stuff and take advantage of what we already have – what God has already given us. I think this applies not just to stuff, but to our spiritual resources as well. We already have all that we need, and what we lack probably won’t be found in many of the places we’re looking.

We already have it.