Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Blueberries. Water. Measuring cup. Car. Gas. Grocery store. Vision. Family. Soap. Computer. Books. BIBLE.
That may seem like a strange start to an article but I think that the preceding words are just obscure enough, just “normal” enough, to deliver my point with the greatest clarity. So, what point am I trying to make exactly?
That we have blessings right under our noses every day – and that those blessings are delivered to us by the Father of lights (God). Now, those are just a few blessings I thought of off of the top of my head, but we all have many, many blessings in our lives. Let’s take this a bit further (stay with me here).
On this hot July day in 2021, I currently have a very reliable car and I have access to plenty of gas. Those are wonderful blessings, but on the downside my car also needs an oil change. I dislike getting oil changes, it’s boring and I have to deal with salesmen trying to get me to buy other things like tires and wiper blades. It also takes up a few hours of my day.
So, what do I concentrate on more, the great positives or the tiny negative? The fact that I have a great car and plenty of gas or the fact that I have to go to the dealership for a couple of hours to get an oil change? Sadly we (and by we I mean me) often concentrate on that one tiny negative aspect of something instead of on the vast multitude of blessings that God has given us.
In America today we really have to watch this. We live a life of comparative comfort and luxury compared to the rest of the world. When Jesus was speaking of the church at Laodicea in the book of Revelation, he spoke of their “riches” and how they had become reliant on their wealth instead of trusting in God:
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
With our relative affluence here in America we sometimes have the tendency to take our blessings for granted. We can begin to think that we are supplying ourselves with our blessings and we can even start to resent anyone or anything that interferes with our machinations. We should all remember that our blessings come from God. Everything from food, clothing, and shelter to the very breath that sustains us, all comes from God.
When we think of our blessings in this manner we can begin to think on the positive aspects of our life instead of the negative. We start to see all of the wonderful things that God supplies us with every single day.
When we think of our blessings in this manner we can begin to live a life of thankfulness (to the Father of lights) for everything good we have in our lives. And, when we start to think of our blessings in this manner – that oil change doesn’t seem quite so bad.