Count Your Blessings

Ephesians 1:3 (NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

There is an old song that says, “Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done” The question that comes to mind is which blessings? The answer to that query will reveal much about our motivations and focus. When we think about what God has done, do our thoughts remain on earthly blessing or are we lifted into heavenly realms?

Jesus didn’t leave Heaven to make us rich. He didn’t die on the cross so we could have a bigger car. He wasn’t beaten so we could live in luxury. If those are the blessings that we praise God for than we are majoring in the minors. Jesus left the splendor of Heaven, the glory of the Throne Room, the majesty of unlimited beauty, and came to earth. Born to poor parents in a manger, struggling for their daily bread, living without comforts of this world’s riches, Jesus taught us that true riches are not to be found in the temporal riches of this world.

We are rich in God’s grace, comforted in the fine linens of his love, fed by the abundance of His Word, upheld by the strength of His hand, washed in the perfume of His blood, our sins are forgiven, our lives renewed, we are blessed beyond measure! When we find our value and our resources in heavenly realms true worship begins in our lives. We must look beyond the glaring lights of this world to see true blessing.

If we were to travel around the world and look at the centers of wealth and government a startling truth would emerge. Behind the casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, or Atlantic City are the slums and broken lives supporting them. Behind the monuments and centers of power in Washington D.C. we find a city in the clutches of poverty and crime. Go anywhere in this world and you will see this same dynamic. The glaring lights of power and wealth mask the inhumanity that is all around them. To find true riches we must look beyond this world. Do not be defined by the values of Hollywood or Washington but instead look up and take heart in the things that God has provided. Eternal, untarnished, and unshakable, the blessings of God will be ours throughout the ages.