No matter how blessed you are in this life, it is still going to end like everyone else’s. Everything you were so happy to be blessed with will simply fade, rust, decay, and eventually be gone. Nothing in this world lasts forever. Even the greatest fortunes of history could not stretch into eternity. But one thing does and that’s the free gift of salvation offered by God. A gift, given to those seeking a right relationship with Him. While all other blessings will fade our salvation will shine bright for all time. This is our greatest reason to rejoice before God.
Blessings follow the people of God, that is simply a part of it. When we honor God with our lives He, in turn, will often honor us in this life. I am so thankful for every great blessing God has poured out on me in this life. But that being said we must be sure that these temporal earthly blessings do not steal our focus from the greatest reason we have to be thankful. That is because we know our names are registered in Heaven. Nothing no matter how great it may seem in this world is ever able to compare to what God has prepared for us.
Of course, this is not an easy concept to master. It can be easy to get sucked in by the things of this world and want to find your thankfulness in what you already have and can see. Even those closest to Jesus struggled in this area. As they allowed what God had blessed them to do in this world to cloud their view of the next. Causing Jesus to readjust their focus off the earthly things that will end and back to their eternal salvation. Telling them to rejoice not because of what they could do through God’s power but simply because their names were registered in Heaven.
Luke 10:17–20 (ESV)
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
What we have to understand is that all earthly blessings will one day be gone and amount to nothing. Everything we once thought so important will one day be nothing more than a distant memory. Thrown away like a dusty rag. So we should not give earthly blessings the highest value in our lives. Nor should we allow them to be what drives us to give thanks unto God.
We have something greater worth far more than endless blessings on earth. The greatest blessing we have received is our salvation that has secured us an eternal place in Heaven. It will never fade or decay but will do what nothing else can and stretch on for all time. Noting should cause us to rejoice more than knowing our future is sure and that we will not die but spend everlasting life in a place where pain and suffering will be no more.
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Revelation 21:4 (ESV)
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Be thankful for every blessing and provision God has given you in this life. Offer Him all the praise He is worthy of for everything He has done for you. Just never allow the small things to outweigh the greatest thing. Our greatest praise should be reserved for that greatest blessing that has no expiration date. Rejoice not just because the car is paid for, the job came through, the test was negative, or anything else. Because while all those things are great they simply won’t last. Instead, rejoice because your name is registered in Heaven and that is a far greater blessing than any other. Because it will last for all time and provide a much better life than anything you receive on earth ever could. Earthly blessings will soon fade but the great blessing of salvation will shine bright for all time.
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