Bless the Lord, O my Soul
As I observe the human nature from the childhood stage, it is plain to see that each of us have a unique character. But there is one nature which we all commonly possess and that is the fallen nature. I somehow realise this as I observe how my child and my nephew cling to me when I have something nice to give them. The opposite happens when they know that I have nothing interesting to offer them. They are least bothered to come to me and shower me with attention. This may not be the case with all children. But generally speaking, children possess this selfish nature.
We adults, too, possess this same nature. But it manifests itself in different ways. We tend to give preference to those who do us great good and from whom we gain a ton of benefits. But we mostly fail to consider those who are a blessing to us spiritually. There are people who cannot help us materialistically, but they are helping us by praying and fasting, and the like. There are people out there who are truly concerned about our spiritual well-being and they truly want us to be saved and inherit the Kingdom of God.
There are people who thank their parents, family and friends when they receive materialistic benefits from them. This is the selfish side of man. Even though we forget the good and spiritual things our parents or family and friends bless us with and we base our love towards them solely to the things we can only see with our eyes and touch with our hands, there are parents who would never give up on their children. This is also true of our God. Do we give thanks to God only when He showers us with His blessing, or because of the miracles that happen in our lives? While He was on earth as a man, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:44-45, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust".
How beautiful are the words of the Saviour! We can see how loving God is even though men are selfish and carnal. God does not withhold Himself from sending us the bread of Heaven, His only begotten Son. (John 6:35, John 3:16,1 John 4:10). This is the true love of God for mankind.
But we who profess to be Christians, the followers of the Way, we fail to thank God daily for the most wonderful gift He has ever given to mankind. Most of the time we acknowledge God when we are blessed with a good job, a house, a good life, a family etc. But we fail to do likewise when we are in challenging situations. We need to wake up, not only to thank God for the physical blessings we receive but also for the spiritual ones as well. Christ said “Thomas, thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
Truly, faith is believing in things which we have not seen but still keep on believing and hoping. Therefore, let us surrender our lives to Christ so He can live in us by His Spirit (Galatians 4:6), so that we can cry out to God with true thankfulness to the Father! Let us thank God Almighty for giving us Christ, His Son, not only to redeem us but also to make us His Sons and Daughters (John 1:12). If birds can sing praises to God and flowers bloom and show the splendour of the Almighty Creator, then how much more we humans who are created in His image? (Genesis 1:27). Let the Spirit of Christ lead us so we can be submissive to the will of God and let us thank God for giving us the victory over sin in Christ. Let us thank God for all the blessings that flow; God deserves to be glorified and praised and He deserves our thankfulness each moment of our lives.
Let the words of David be in our mouth with joy and gladness saying, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Psalm 103:1-3.
*******