Ministers Blogs
“Can you count your blessings?”
Categories: Christian Principles
Imagine what you and I would miss if we were to move from our country to any of the world's poorest countries… like Laos, Paraguay, Chad, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh. Can you imagine it? Someone has shared the following:
·Your home would be approximately as large as an American garage if you had a home.
·Your family wardrobe would consist of one outfit per person, shoes for the head of the family and no shoes and few worn garments make up the rest of your wardrobe.
·In your pantry, if you had food you'd probably have dried meat and a few vegetables a little flour, salt and sugar, moldy potatoes, dried beans, onions only rice dried meat, vegetables, powdered milk.
When reading this, our worries are a little less worrisome, our cares are not as concerning and our wants are humbled and our needs are more focused.
When comparing our lives to others we are very blessed. We have food to spare and even throw away, we have a wide selection of clothing and shoes. Our homes are warm and our cars are too! Then when it comes to the church we are even more blessed, we have many wonderful people we worship with, talented people that lead our worship and teach our Bible classes. We can look at our bulletin and bulletin boards around the building and there are many opportunities to continue to grow in our faith and to fellowship with other Christians.
With all these comforts and eases it is easy to take for granted the blessing we receive.
But we have these blessings for a reason. They are there to remind us that God is good and that he has provided for us.
Ezekiel 34:26- 31 states, “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing, and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen anymore. Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD.”
We often sing the hymn “Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done!” Have you ever really counted your blessings and really see what God has done for us?
The next time you start to criticize, grumble, or complain remember how blessed you really are! Think about it! Mark T. Tonkery
