Pastor's Corner; Jon Hayashi

I found the opening statements to a recent interview with Seattle Seahawk's Doug Baldwin quite refreshing. Doug Baldwin was an undrafted free agent coming out of Stanford University in 2011. Twenty-eight other receivers went ahead of him in the draft, and he went undrafted. But he believed he had the gifts , talents, and mental make-up to not just make a roster, but excel.

After winning a Super-Bowl this past year, the Seahawks re-signed him to a three year contract seeing his value to the team. But it's not the money or even the accolades that keep him going. He wants to be the best. He wants to show everyone else who was picked before him and all the teams that passed on him that they made a mistake. But even all of that pales in comparison to his opening comment.

What he said right out of the chute (and this is not a direct quote): "I know that what I'm about to say is cliché. I know that everyone who is a person of faith will say what I'm about to say because it's just what you're supposed to say. But I want to make it very clear that I really mean this. I give all thanks to God for this opportunity and consider it a blessing BECAUSE I KNOW FROM WHOM MY BLESSINGS COME."

It's refreshing to hear someone continue to keep things in proper perspective and give credit where credit is due. In our materialistic, opportunistic, greedy, me-centered society, everyone has the temptation of forgetting that point. In Deuteronomy 8:7-14, God cautions the people through Moses:

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land-a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey... When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Please, let's not forget to give credit where credit is due. Let's not forget from whom our blessings flow. Let's remember the Lord our God and worship Him and praise Him for all He has given us. In the end let's remember, it's all about grace, that is, we end up getting that which we do not deserve. Let's thank God and count our blessings, and if you find yourself at odds with this, then maybe you've stopped remembering from whom your blessings come.