Today is July 4, 2013. On the Internet earlier today there was a photo of the American flag with the words across the front, God Bless America. It got me to thinking about the question: Do we, who are the called of God, True Believers, really consider that the Great and Awesome God HAS BLESSED AMERICA?
Brethren, we live in a very affluent society with so many blessings that they are often difficult to count. We have gadgets galore, so many things, so many opportunities. It’s sometimes hard to be aware of all the blessings at one time.
God has blessed our Nation with such abundance and the peace to enjoy it in the last 300 years that it is often difficult to think of God’s protection as a blessing. We often find people who ignore it, or simply take His protection for granted. That’s the way it is for much of our “stuff” and our experiences, also.
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.
God’s Word instructs us to continually offer the sacrifice of praise and to give thanks. And, after all, we really do have a lot of reasons to do so. Yet, we need to ask, do we? Do we praise and thank our God continually?
Sometimes we may even “feel” thankful, but our feeling thankful can be quite different from our actually giving thanks. Oh, that we would do it! How pleasing it will be to our God!
Psalm 107:8-9 (8) Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (9) For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
According to the Apostle Paul’s encouragement to the Colossians, when we “walk” in Christ Jesus the Lord, we will abound with thanksgiving
Colossians 2:6-7 (6) As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: (7) Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Let us set our hearts to response to the Psalmist’s exhortation.
Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
To help us do this, we need to pay attention to God’s blessings, to be alive and aware of them. Then we actually need to show our gratitude as we acknowledge every one of the blessings. And, then we need to enjoy them because that is why God gave them to us.
Happy 4th of July! Celebrate! Enjoy! After all, God HAS BLESSED AMERICA!