11/17/2008 Psalms 9:1

11/17/2008

Psalms 9:1 - 2 (HCSB) ¹I will thank the LORD with all my heart;
I will declare all Your wonderful works.
²I will rejoice and boast about You;
I will sing about Your name, Most High.

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Have you ever known a brat kid who never minds his mother – but when he want’s something, he becomes sweet as sugar? We may not be like that kid with God, but so often, we neglect talking to God—praying, except when we need or want something. How often do we stop to just thank God for what we have? We treat God like our valet or genie – one who is handy to assist, but not necessarily a friend with whom we desire to spend extended time in conversation.

We live in a country where we have been given so much. Even our poorest citizens are better off than some in third-world countries. The majority of us live in splendor compared the majority of the rest of the world. God has been gracious to us.

Think about the security we have. While we lament that we must lock our doors and install security systems, we have no idea of what it is like to live in places like Somalia or Israel, or Iraq. Walking to the market could be the last thing they do there because of the civil unrest.

When I was in Israel, a bus load of students came to visit the old city of Jerusalem. They were accompanied by an adult carrying an M-16. We talked to this young lady with the gun. She had been in the Israeli military and now was a hired guard for this group of students. Armed Israeli soldiers stood at the gates to the old city, and could be seen almost everywhere. To me it was quite unusual, but to them, it was every-day life. Each day could be their last. On any given day, some radical militant could detonate a bomb killing dozens and maiming more. Some distraught fool might open fire in a crowded market killing and wounding bystanders.

We do not know that kind of life. We live in such a secure setting and yet have no idea of the state of the rest of the world.

We are blessed and we need to first be thankful to God that he saw fit to place us here, and second, pray for and give to those with lesser blessings than us.

Read over the verses above. Take time to consider your blessings. The mere fact that you have a comfortable chair to sit in as you read this is a blessing that most of the world will never know. Your shoes fit, your clothes are clean, you had a shower, and drank clean, healthy water from a faucet right in your own home. Very likely you are in a heated building, or you have warm clothes so that you don’t feel the chill of the winter air. Perhaps, you reach for a cup of coffee that was provided by your employer. How numerous are your blessings. So many little things we take for granted. So many little things the majority of the world cannot afford.

Thank Him. Ask His forgiveness for taking these things for granted. Thank Him today. Thank Him tomorrow. Thank Him daily.

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