Tom Cannon

Secretly, I have always envied chefs who could discern the various flavors or scents within an entree or dessert, and with little effort, identify every ingredient by their sense of taste or smell alone. It amazes me how they can differentiate between all the combined ingredients, and not only tell you what’s in the dish, but how much of each item is in it.

Its embarrassing how little talent I possess for cooking. One time, a few years ago, I tried making fresh bread for our family, but to my chagrin, the finished product was so hard, even our dog wouldn’t eat it. Try as I might, all of my attempts at creating sumptuous meals have fallen far short of their culinary goal – both in taste and presentation.

When it comes to cooking, its easy to see that some people simply have more talent than others.

But recently, something interesting happened to me, when I was cleaning the garage – I opened a metal storage cabinet where I keep my woodworking tools, and was greeted by the various scents of the craft. Instantly, and without giving it a second thought, I recognized the scent of various glues, dry oak, urethane and stain. That’s when the thought hit me – though I may not have been given the talent to cook like an Iron Chef, God has graced me with other talents that excel those of many other people.

As I stood pondering how easily I can turn rough wood into beautiful furniture, I couldn’t help but thank the Lord for the gifts I do possess, and … ask him  to forgive me for envying the gifts of others.

Too often, we can overlook the talents, gifts, blessings or abilities He has given us –  through our envy for the abilities, gifts or talents possessed by others, and in doing so, completely waste precious time and squander our many gifts and talents in the process. The wiser choice would be to consistently give thanks to God for His blessings, and use whatever gifts, talents, or abilities we have been given, for His glory, and to benefit others along the way.

This Thanksgiving – I encourage you to return thanks for all the blessings you have been given. And if you have a gift to create amazing culinary delights, or talents to create beautiful objects from wood, metal, or anything else – be sure to give some of your bounty away – for the benefit of those who are lacking. Today, people are especially hurting throughout our country, and how easily we could help alleviate some of their pain, if we simply share what God has given us with those near us.

People like to call it, “Paying it forward.” While the Bible simply says; “Freely you have received, freely give.” Regardless of what you call it, that’s definitely the right principle to live by.

If you have been graced with special gifts, talents, or abilities, I hope you will find someone to share your God-given blessings with. After all, Jesus gave Himself for us, isn’t only right to follow His example, and give our ‘gifts’ freely to help others?

If we can all learn to do that – as selflessly as He has done it for us – we will help make our world a much better place.