Good Reason To Be Thankful

I had a good reminder this morning of why I am so thankful. As a follower of Jesus Christ I am a recipient of every (not some or a good portion of or even most, but every) spiritual blessing. Now I am a big fan of blessings. I readily accept any blessing I am given. I think it is even safe to say I go out of my way to find blessings. So right off the bat, when I read these words that Paul wrote to the faithful followers of Jesus in Ephesus, I was hooked.

But then I started asking myself, "What are spiritual blessings?" and started looking further in the letter to figure out if Paul answers that question. What I found was a list of spiritual blessings that filled my heart with joy and thankfulness:

 

1. I was chosen before the creation of the world (I love being chosen)
• Chosen to be holy (ie. set apart for something special) and blameless in the sight of God
• Adopted as a child of God through Christ (not because of my earning it but because of His unmerited favour to me.)
• Chosen to receive redemption and forgiveness, again according to His grace which He lavished on me (that's how I can stand without blame in the presence of God.  He has forgiven my mistakes, failures and rebellion against Him)
• Chosen to have the mystery of His will (to bring everything under the authority/rule of Jesus) revealed to me
• Chosen to bring glory to God through His work in me (this is the one that I just don't get.  How could my messed up life bring glory to a perfect God?)
2. These spiritual blessings belong to all who believe in Jesus Christ

How could that not fill a person up with joy and thankfulness? I suppose for someone who has not yet come to that place of belief there is no comfort in these words. But with all these promises hanging out there, ready and available to those who have heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, why would anyone not want to cash in on every spiritual blessing?