Food for Thought
Count Your Many Blessings
by David Churchill
At
the end of the calendar year or fiscal year, almost every business
takes stock of its physical inventory and of its financial performance.
This measure of assets and accomplishments provides a frame
of reference to compare with the business past expectations
and future aspirations. This, in turn, allows the management
to make practical decisions about what needs to change and about
what needs to continue as is in order to meet the companys
ultimate goals.
As Christians, we also must take
regular stock of our physical inventory and spiritual performance.
As Christians, we also compare this measurement against
the standards that we and God have set for ourselves. As
Christians, we also must make practical decisions about what
we should change and what we should persist in order to meet
our ultimate goals of living with God on earth and in heaven.
How have you prospered this past
year? Or, to put it another way, how much has God blessed
you? Just how many blessings can you count and write down
on a piece of paper?
Lets start with housing.
Most of us live in homes that are more than adequate for
the main essentials required of a dwelling. Compared to
the Christians of the first century, the Christians of your congregation
probably live in such marvelous mansions of convenience and innovation
as to seem almost heavenly to those people.
What about clothing? The
poorest in many congregations own enough clothing to wear different
outfits every day while the poorest of our predecessors borrowed
the one outfit they wore all week.
Travel? The early Christians
walked -- a lot. At best, on land, they might have ridden
a beast of burden or in a cart drawn by animals or people. Any
journey on water was powered by the wind or by human muscles.
Traveling by air was out of the question. Yet, most
of us own or have access to private vehicular transportation.
What they traveled in days or weeks, we habitually accomplish
in hours, especially if we take a plane or fast train.
Many of the early Christians hoped
to eat one main meal a day consisting of some type of bread,
broth, a simply prepared vegetable, and perhaps some fish. Meat
was expensive and usually reserved for special occasions. We,
on the other hand, would feel denied if we could not eat meat
with at least two of our meals each day. We have such an
abundance and variety of foods to choose from that we actually
expect to eat what we like.
To cut to the chase, in almost
every material apect of our lives we are unimaginably rich compared
to the first-century Christians. Why has God blessed us
so abundantly with material possessions? I dont really
know. But Im sure He expects us to consider those
blessings as we make decisions about how we will serve Him more
and better.
Beyond the material, we have blessings
to count in health, family, friends, the church, and our citizenship
in Christ. Just as the business counts its blessings
before it can decisively use them, we need to count those blessings
before we make the most of them. If we have trouble recognizing
those blessings, perhaps we should consider those people who
seem to us to have fewer of those benefits or who truly lack
them all together. No matter how bad we think
we have it, there is always someone else who has less or worse
than we have.
After youve written down
your list of assets, work on another list of accomplishments
-- your spiritual performance. What specific tasks or responsibilities
did you take on this past year to serve God, to strengthen the
church, to reach the lost? Did you successfully complete
any or all of them? Do any of them require continued effort
on your part to be successful?
Now write down your spiritual goals
and plans for this coming year. Are there things in your
life that need changing, perhaps issues that need resolving,
before you can reach your goals? Are there some habits
you need to hang onto and others you need to abandon? If
youre having trouble setting some goals, here are a few
suggestions in addition to reading your Bible every day:
1. Pray everyday for at least fifteen
minutes or more about specific issues & people.
2. Increase your weekly contribution.
3. Select a member of the congregation
for mutual growth & edification.
4. Select one of your family, friends,
or co-workers as your personal responsibility to evangelize this
coming year. |