“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.” Psalm 103:2-3 NKJV
The first verse of the popular hymn ‘Count your blessings’ composed by Johnson Oatman is as follows:
“When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
When you look back on your life and the past year, are you tempted to complain? Do all your breakthroughs seem to have a complication? The songwriter has a challenge for you; sit down and count your blessings. You might find that you are ungrateful because you are forgetful.
But before we list off all the amazing things that God has done for us and our loved ones, think first of what He has done for you in Christ Jesus. It is the greatest blessing of all.
In Romans 4:11 and Psalm 32:1-2, we identify a man who is the very epitome of a blessed man. He is that man whose sins have been forgiven and who has been made righteous before God. That man is truly blessed.
Guess what? You are that man! God was in Christ not imputing sins to the world and by believing in the work of Christ, you are made righteous before God! Glory to God! You are blessed only because you have received the blessings of God.
Nothing should be so bad as to make you lose sight of that. If you have nothing at all, you have eternal life and that is more than enough. You may not have everything on your very lengthy imaginary list of things you think you need to be happy but you have eternal life.
Let this be your lens in life. You will find your focus realigned when you remember that you have eternal life despite whatever events are occurring in your life.
Your gratitude shoots even higher when you start a list of everything that God has done for you. When you find that every second is filled with gratitude for your many blessings, you’ll resist the temptation to complain. So go ahead, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!
Bible Reading Plan: John 20:19-23, Revelation 19, Job 40, Zechariah 1-5