Count Your Blessings

Psalm 103:1-5, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
How often do we take God’s blessings for granted? What would we do if in the morning the sun did not rise and night remained all day long? Would this get our attention? I am sure it would. We don’t give it a second thought that at a certain time the sun will rise and daylight will wash away the night darkness.
Do we not simply take it for granted that it will get light and we can go about our daily rounds? What about the blessing of just being able to get out of bed and check to see if the sun is rising? What other blessings do we take for granted? We complain we have to mow the grass twice a week to keep our yards neat and trim. What if there was no grass to mow? We go the fridge and dig out goodies when we are hungry, but what if the electricity went off and all in the fridge ruined and we had nothing to eat and no way to cook ? What if the water we had to drink was filled with bugs and dirt, what then? Or living in a free land even with these petty problems we all complain about, what about that? We complain about too much rain or not enough rain, it’s too hot or too cold, what if there was no rain at all?
The psalmist knew he couldn’t possibly remember all of God’s benefits to him. He was distressed that he might forget them all, so he took his sluggish soul in hand, shook it, and urged it to consider at least some of the good gifts God gave to him.
Because God’s goodness is as constant as the sun, we are in danger of forgetting what He showers on us each day. Have you ever thought that God creates a perfect day brand new and different that is not like any other past or to come? He creates each new day perfect. If we will stop and just look at the new day with eyes of thanksgiving we can see how truly great God is. If we count our blessings one by one, we’ll never get finished. But if we jot down a list of ten or twenty gifts God gives us each day, something will happen to our hearts. We are real busy each day and simply don’t have time to think about how good God is to us and what He gives us each day. Can you take ten minutes and write down ten things God has given you this day? That would be one a minute; can we be still with God thanking Him for that long?
“Every morning as we rise, God’s new mercies greet out eyes; and when twilight shadows fall, evenings blessings brighten all.” ---anonymous