Give Thanks

Give Thanks and Count your Blessings

How many things do you have to be thankful for? Perhaps it’s been a while since you really considered that question. If so, I encourage you to take a few minutes to create a list of at least ten things you would call blessings.

What will you put on your list? Most people start with personal things such as family, friends, and health. You might go on to include freedom, possessions and even life itself.

We call these things blessings because every good thing we receive is a gift from God. The Bible says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father” (James 1:17).

We should regularly stop and thank God for the blessings in our lives. “Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).

The Most Important Blessing

I hope that when your list is complete, it will contain the most important blessing of all—God’s gift of eternal life. If you already know the joy of having your sins forgiven, and the peace of being assured of an eternal home in Heaven, praise God!

But if you are not 100% sure that you are ready to stand before God some day, I have great news for you! You can know—today—that you are accepted by God, and that you have eternal life.

What IS eternal life?

Eternal life is more than a never-ending existence. In the Bible we find that all of us will exist forever, but only those who trust in Jesus experience the blessing known as eternal life or everlasting life.

Jesus said, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36

To Jesus, eternal life speaks of the quality of life enjoyed in the presence of God. It’s the kind of life He was talking about when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Why do we need eternal life?

We need eternal life because, apart from God, we are spiritually dead. God has evaluated our hearts and declared us “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). When it comes to our spiritual state, we’re not on a sliding scale between good and bad— in God’s eyes we’re simply dead. Our sin has separated us from God, the source of spiritual life. Unless we are reconnected with Him, the only thing that awaits us is judgment: “Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

HOW CAN WE RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE?

The Bible says eternal life can only be received as a gift from God: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). This gift was purchased for you by the Son of God, who came to this earth to suffer, bleed, and die on the cross in our place—as our substitute. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead to demonstrate His victory over sin and death!

God, in love, now offers you the gift of eternal life. Will you recognize that you are spiritually dead because of your sin and turn to Him in repentance? Today is the day to turn from your way to His way, and trust Jesus as your Savior. Then you will know the greatest of all blessings—forgiveness of sin and eternal life with God!

It’s a good thing to be thankful. It’s a better thing to thank God for your blessings. But the best thing of all is to know Him personally and experience the joy of Him washing away your sins and giving you His life—eternal life. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).