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Count Your Many Blessings

Introduction: We often take our blessings for granted. Man finds it easy to complain and grumble until something "big" happens. Only upon the loss of a blessing do we realize how great that blessing was. We tend to think about hot water only when it is gone; to appreciate walking when we have trouble walking, etc. The Lord has showered us with blessings, Ezekiel 34.26.

    1. How many people would have been bitter about such circumstances?

    2. Instead of complaining he was glad to be blessed.

    1. I may have been tempted to question why God allowed this to happen.

    2. How many would have charged God with being unfair?

    1. He did not think of all the negatives: all that persecuted him, the false brethren, being hungry, stoned, left for dead, being shipwrecked, etc

    2. He realize how blessed he was.

    1. Food, clothing, shelter, Matthew 15.36

    2. Our family and friends

    3. Good health, freedom to live in peace

    1. Christ came and died for us (me), Ephesians 2.8

    2. We live under a New Covenant not like the Old Covenant. Hebrews 8.13

        a) A covenant that changed the relationship of the Gentiles, formerly alienated from God, but now having peace, Ephesians 2.11-13

        b) We have the forgiveness of sins

    3. Christ’s church

    4. The Lord’s Supper, 1 Corinthians 10.16

    5. Our brethren, Romans 16.4

    6. Blessings do come to those that are faithful, Proverbs 10.6; Psalm 37.25

    1. The Gentiles were not thankful, Romans 1.21

    2. When we cease being thankful we cease being faithful

    1. Children of godly parents have a great blessing.*See back side

    2. Neighbors of Christians are greatly blessed by their teaching, example, help, James 1.27; Galatians 6.10

    1. Our parents, brethren, neighbors, children, etc.

    2. Do not wait until those blessings are gone before you appreciate them.

Conclusion: When did you last count your many blessings? Since the Lord blesses us with such abundance, should we not always bless Him with our love and service?

**Max Jukes, a Dutch settler in New York, had two sons. Both married into a family in which there were six daughters, five of whom, including the wives they chose, were disreputable characters. R.L. Dugdale was appointed to make an investigation of New York prisons. In the course of his work he ran across the Jukes family. He ferreted out their genealogical history through five generations and found descending directly from these untoward marriages a nauseating stream of pauperism, prostitution, illegitimacy, and crime. Of the 709 descendants investigating he found that one-fifth of them were criminals. Nearly one-fourth had been paupers supported at government expense. About one-fourth of the children were illegitimate. Of the women, one out of six was a prostitute. Dealing with crimes committed by this family cost an estimate$1,300,000. Of course, no definite statistics can reveal the indirect moral and social evil springing from this fountainhead of evil influence.

But let us look at a brighter picture. Jonathan Edwards, a minister, was a strict disciplinarian in morals. We are not discussing his doctrinal position, but everyone grants that he stood four-square for the highest and noblest things. Tracing his genealogical tree we find as his direct descendants; twelve college presidents, 265 college graduates, sixty-five college professors, sixty physicians, one hundred ministers, seventy-five army officers, sixty prominent authors, one hundred lawyers, thirty judges, eighty public officers, such as governors, mayors and state officials, three congressmen, two United States Senators, and one vice-president of the United States. (Taken from Some "Do’s" and "Don’t" for the Christian, by Leroy Brownlow.

D.T. @ Westside Church of Christ 11.19.06