"Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."
(Lamentations 3:22-23)
When our health is good, when we have the material things we want, when there's enough money to pay for everything, and when we're surrounded by loved ones, it's easy to think God is blessing us.
And so we naturally want to thank Him, right?
Unfortunately, that is not human nature.
It is said that prosperity makes monsters, and adversity makes men. Just like kids that get everything they want and are never told "no", we become spoiled when everything comes easy.
This is why persecuted Christians in the poorest countries are stronger in their faith. They are more thankful for what they have.
As fallen human beings, we have a natural tendency to be proud, selfish and entitled. So we take many of God's blessings for granted. Even something as simple as the next breath we take.
Be honest...
How often do you wake up in the morning and start to think about something other than thanking God for keeping you breathing throughout the night as you slept?
I will confess that gratitude for God's loving kindness and tender mercies doesn't come easily to me. I have to work at being thankful!
My natural tendency is to go through the day thinking about the things that are wrong with my life, not to count my blessings. Then I catch myself, confessing it and asking God for forgiveness.
But there is so much that God knows about my present and future circumstances that I can't possibly know. What if some of the bad things are actually blessings in disguise?
What terrible job did He keep me from being hired for? What bad person did He keep me from getting close to? What if I got that last minute phone call that made me late leaving the house because He kept me from being in a car accident had I left on time?
How about you? What disasters has He helped you avoid? You will never know on this side of Heaven. But if you are reading this, through His loving kindness and tender mercies He has kept you alive another day. For that alone He is to be thanked!
However, we do have many other obvious material blessings to count and to thank Him for. You probably are healthy enough to get out of bed, have a roof over your head and clothes on your back. You probably have a family and friends that care.
I know some people don't have these things, so I'm not trying to ignore real problems. Jesus Himself said that in this world we would have many troubles. But He also said we should take heart, because He has overcome the world!
So, fellow Christian, there you have the first and greatest blessing we possess. That God, in His kindness and tender mercy, opened our eyes of understanding and gave us the faith to believe God's Word and Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. And that by believing in Jesus, we have eternal life.
Each day, we have that eternal blessing from Jesus. At the end, that's the blessing that really counts.