Memories

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 Posted by Angie

Remember Your Benefits!

I remember back when I was so young and naïve…my very first job in the Corporate Business world was doing data entry as a temp. They put me in this room with a huge stack of papers, briefly went over the software, and told me I had an hour for lunch…then they left me by myself. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to finish the entire stack that day, so I worked until I thought my eyes were going to bulge out of my head! However, I did such an amazing job, they offered me a permanent position working in the Marketing Department. In my excitement to have landed a job so quickly, I didn’t bother finding out the pay or benefits. Let’s just say that when applying for future positions, that was top on my priority list!

I heard a pastor years ago tell the story of a poor family who had secured passage on a cruise ship. It was all they could do to pay for their boarding ticket, so they were left to eat crackers for the entire voyage. Everyday someone would invite them to the vast buffet, and embarrassingly the poor family would decline. Only at the end of the trip did they discover that all the meals were included. The realization that they had been eating like paupers when they could have been dining like Kings was overwhelming. The point obviously is that we as Christians have been given so much more than just a boarding pass to “Heaven”.

Psalm 103:2-5 admonishes us NOT to forget All His benefits! What are they? Let’s look and see what is promised to the Believer.

·         He forgives ALL of our sins (everything we’ve ever done, or ever will do)
·         Heals ALL of our diseases (mental, physical, and emotional)
·         Redeems our life from the pit (not just once, but every pit we find ourselves in)
·         Crowns us with love and compassion (covers our mind with the knowledge of His love &
       compassion for us)
·         Satisfies our desires with good things (has a good plan for us, gives us the desires of our heart)
·         Renews our youth like the eagle (strength, energy & grace to accomplish all we need to do)

I don’t know about you, but I’d like to receive ALL of these promised benefits! I don’t want to be like the poor family on the Cruise, finding out at the end that I wasted all that was available to me. Let us do as the Psalm says and “Praise the Lord, Oh my soul, and FORGET NOT all His benefits”!