Be Conscious of God’s Blessings
Gratitude is the response of Souls who are intensely aware of God’s intervention in their lives. Thanksgiving is a joyous recognition of God’s goodness and power in the lives of His children. It is a fundamental reaction of people when they discover with joy the loving intervention of God in the significant events of their lives. When Noah and his family were saved from the deluge, he offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. The first hymn of thanksgiving we find in Scripture is the canticle of Moses when God liberated the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Daniel did the same when God saved him and his companions form the fiery furnace. Deborah, too thanked God for delivering the Israelites from the hands of the enemy. Even Christ Jesus gave thanks to the Father during His earthly ministry. This reveals to us the fundamental motive for our trustful gratitude.
“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. O! Lord that lends me life. Lend me a heart replete with gratefulness” says William Shakespeare.
Gratitude to God is the surest way of drawing God into our hearts. There is a story told of a Monk who felt distant from God and complained to his superior that he could not pray. His superior said to him, “Do not worry if you can not pray. Only keep on counting all the blessings you have received form God and thank God for the same.” The Monk took up this advice seriously and very soon he was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he found prayer easy, he felt very near to God and he was always cheerful and happy, because God has made his dwelling in his heart.
Let us ask ourselves a genuine question. How many of us count our blessings? Scientists say that if it would be possible to manufacture a human brain it would cost millions of dollars. For a kidney transplant you have to pay over a lakh of rupees. To repair the heart and go through a bypass surgery you need to pay more than 2 lakhs of rupees. God has given us eyes and ears and brains and other organs and we take everything for granted. We never look up to heaven to say a “thank you” to God, the giver of all gifts. The story is told of a man who got locked in a room on the 7th floor and had no means of getting out. So he thought of an idea. He dropped some coins through the window that people picking up the coins may look up to him and save him. But the people who passed by picked up the coins and went on their way. Then he dropped a stone that landed on a bald head. This man looked up and the man who was locked in was able to come out. It is only when we have troubles that we look up to God. When he fills us with his blessings, we enjoy very much but we forget him. Let us be conscious of the blessings we have been receiving from God. Let us be aware that what we have is a gratuitous gift form God. A grateful heart is like a magnet- it makes one conscious of all the blessings we receive from God everyday of our lives.
As we reflect upon the many blessings we have received by the Lord’s kindness and mercy, let us pray with the psalmist, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.” (Ps 106:1) “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.” (Ps 116: 17)
How do we express our thanks?
We should present ourselves as a living sacrifice of thanksgiving to God by making of our body a temple for God to dwell in, our tongue to speak his praise, using our hands to do his work and guiding our feet to take us into a lost world with the gospel of peace.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have form God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6: 19-20).
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