Monday Morning Manna: Blessings: Counted or Cursed?

Do you ever wake up with a song on your mind? I often do. This morning it was a hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr. from the late 1800s. He wrote over three thousand hymns, but this is the one I remember. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one; count your many blessings, see what God hath done.” To list my blessings here would take up more space that my normal one paragraph, so just take my word for it – I am much blessed. In fact, the older I get, the more blessings I count. I love a recently discovered quote by the Roman philosopher and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero, ““The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured.” Whatever your age, I suspect you are likewise blessed. Counting blessings is a good way to begin a day. However, we live in a world that counts everything but blessings – calories, steps, miles, pounds, minutes, coins, problems, etc. May I suggest you join me in spending some time today, counting blessings. Even if you lose count while counting blessings, that is better than hearing what God said through the prophet, Malachi, “If you will not . . . give glory to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings” (Malachi 2:2). Be blessed today and be a blessing today.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford