Bless the Lord, oh my Soul, and forget not his benefits.... Psalm 103 begins. The Psalmist cajoles his soul to remember and praise God. Then he enumerates many of the things God has and is doing for his soul and the souls of those who are His. What should catch our attention is he has to coax his soul into remembering.
Our Nation is in a war for its very soul. Folks are attempting to dislodge the past, by recreating it or redacting facts. Even if the truth were everyone who came here to make up this Nation were racist and evil, we'd still be the Nation folks are fighting to get into. Why begrudge its beginnings and not see the great things that have happened and celebrate those achievements? Even if we were a Nation where every white person, according to the Media, could not be trusted because of their supposed privilege, why should we forget the diversity of groups that make up the general term "white people?" As if all white people or Hispanic, or Asian, or Black people derive from one group within Countries or Continents, that's just ridiculous. Isn't that in itself shortsighted? If we only see people so generally, that in itself causes us to forget the benefit of the image of God within each person. Forgetting that, is what foments hostility instead of thanksgiving. Here is a benefit, individuals matter to God and he doesn't see them just as a connection to their "race" or "people group" or" skin color." Ask Rahab, Naaman, Ruth, and Cornelius. Great lives to discover in The Bible, rich in history.
It wouldn't harm us if we paused and persuaded our souls to be reminded of its benefits. We can all find fault in our lives, well maybe not our own. And, Yes, we can find things of depth to be grateful for, I mean down to the core of who you are, grateful. Catalogue things of intrinsic value. Things given by God instead of keeping an account of things that offend, make us angry or just plain ol' get on our nerves.
You will find the latter comes easier. You must ask, "did the Psalmist need to negotiate within himself to 'forget not his benefits' because it doesn't come naturally?" The answer, "yes!" And, "No, it doesn't come naturally." It is also why Jesus commands us to do things we think should be a "duh, that seems easy." Well everything naturally does, hate, complaining, forgetting to see the good things, etc. Those tend to come from our human nature. Let me remind you that, nature is sinful. But Jesus' commands need supernatural intervention.
It takes deliberate actions to act in kindness, grace and thanksgiving. And while those things can happen naturally, they don't happen without intention or attention to purposefully speaking thankfully. Let's take the next 360ish days to "remember his benefits." Even if you are not a believer you are living in His grace and under his benefits. If you know Jesus and are in him, you are filled with the essential one, His Spirit.
Let each of us choose to see the benefits of His grace in each circumstance of our next year. Remember, like the Psalmist who lived a tumultuous life before, during and after being king, he chose to remember all God gave Him. He had to cajole his soul, but he did it. We can, in a targeted way, do the same. I warn you, unless you call your soul to attention it will slip back into shortsightedness.
Have a blessed Christmas Season and a Wonderful New Year!
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