THINK ABOUT YOUR BLESSINGS 

Pat Bricklemyer

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits---" Psalm 103 Vs. 1-5

We should always be thankful, but first we have to be thoughtful. If you THINK about your blessings rather than rant and complain about what you don’t have, you will become thankful.

Why do we only realize what we have after we lose it?

There is an old story about a poor Jew who went to his rabbi to complain about his circumstances: 8 people, he, his wife, and 6 children trying to live in the confines of a one-room house. He wanted the rabbi to help him. The rabbi asked if he had any animals—the man said yes, he had a cow, goat and several chickens.

The rabbi told him to go home and bring the animals into the house for the night. After that night the man went back to the rabbi and said how awful it was. The chickens were running everywhere causing so much confusion. The rabbi told him to go home and send the chickens outside.

Next day, the man went back to the rabbi and said how much damage the goat was doing to the family’s belongings. The rabbi said to send the goat outside. On the third day man complained to the rabbi about the cow—how awful the smell was in the house. Once again the rabbi said to send the cow outside. On the fourth day man came back and told the rabbi how thankful he was to live in a clean, safe house with his loving family.

This is from a sermon by Rev. Bob Hicks of the Upper Spruce Creek Presbyterian Church. You can tell it is a country church, but how true. All we need is to become thoughtful of our blessings and we will become thankful to the Lord, stronger and resilient for the challenges that face us.

Prayer:   Dear Heavenly Father, I know that too often it is easy to complain, fight and be depressed about what we don't have. Help us to be constantly thoughtful of the wonderful world you have given us and our blessings, and thus be eternally grateful to You and Praise You