Friday, December 15, 2006
Blessed be the God of Israel…” (UMH 209)
God does appear to us, if only we will look! But we are descendents of those the prophets despaired of – people with hard hearts and blind eyes and stopped ears. We are not attentive to God because we are too concerned about ourselves. This becomes painfully evident when we magnify our troubles and fail to notice God in our blessings.
TODAY, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, AS SIGNS THAT GOD REALLY IS NEAR, AND STILL WORKING IN OUR WORLD. Prayer: God, teach us to thankful for what you have given us, and not for what we think we want beyond our present needs. Give us hearts of gratitude which overflow with your love so that we may share that love with others in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Dr. John Clifford
Good things do happen to us. At Thanksgiving we take a moment to say so! Isn’t it sad that we have to designate one day to count the good! Perhaps it is because we regularly receive so many blessings. Or because the best ones aren’t “things” we can handle and touch, but rather evidences of caring and love. Even those we tend to pass those off as either “little things” or “what we deserve.”
We need to cultivate that “attitude of gratitude” that pays attention to all the good things that happen, even in the midst of our problems and sorrows. Can you acknowledge God’s presence in your blessings? That is where God comes to us most regularly, and we are invited to sing praise to Christ’s presence.