3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Count Your Blessings
If you’ve been around The Oil Change for any length of time, you already know this, but for the sake of those who are new to our little group, let me fill you in on how I decide what to write about each day’s passage. Sometimes, the point of the passage is obvious, and I simply dive in. Sometimes, I spend a little time reading through a passage asking God to allow one point to jump out. I often have two or three study Bibles open on my desk to use as reference points. I almost always have multiple translations nearby as I write these.
At first glance, today’s passage seems pretty obvious. Paul is focusing on what Christ did for us and how we have been brought into a family – God’s family.
However, for me, it’s the first line of this passage that really jumps off the page. God has blessed us with all kinds of spiritual blessings. In other words, there are so many different things that we could be thankful to God for. If we just stopped and considered it, we should be amazed at the many ways God has blessed us.
Let me ask you this: are you more focused on what bothers you about something than the many ways you are blessed? In the church you attend, does your energy go into criticizing the things you don’t like rather than celebrate the things that you love about your church? What about with your job? Your city or country?
I think spiritual maturity comes when we are able to walk through the things we don’t like and seek out the stuff we are grateful about. Perhaps it’s because of my role as a pastor that I notice this more than others do. There are times when I shake my head at the criticisms I hear. The stuff that people expend energy complaining about never ceases to amaze me.
Folks: we are blessed! God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. What a shame if we miss the blessings because we’re focused on the complaints.
My prayer: Lord, forgive me for the critical attitude I can often carry. Sometimes I miss out on the glorious truth right before me: you have adopted me into your family! I am free and forgiven because of what you have done for me. Help me to remain grateful when I want to fall back into criticism. Help me to pray for those who frustrate me. Help me to see my blessings every day. Amen.
Until tomorrow.
