True blessing!

In my private devotions, this morning, I was reading the Beatitudes - the passage in Matthew 5 that is often referred to as "the Magna Carta of the Kingdom of God"; "the Manifesto of the King"; or "the compendium of Jesus' teaching".  The word that is repeated in those verses, is the word "Blessed".  It's a word that actually means "Happy", and it reminded me of Sunday evening when, in Wishaw Baptist Church, those of us who had gathered were given a warning that the pastor was going to ask for some 'contributions' with regard to that which had blessed us in 2014!  In other words, he was asking us for examples of what had made us happy in the year just ended.

When the appropriate time arrived, a good number of folk shared an experience.  In my own case, as would not have been unexpected, it concerned my younger daughter and the cancer that was diagnosed in May, 2014.  The blessing was not in the cancer, but in the fact that she discovered it at a very early stage; that she was able to have it attended to very quickly, as her employer had taken out private health insurance for all employees - important because it turned out to be the most aggressive grade of cancer; and that she had coped with the course of chemotherapy that followed the operation (the radium treatment commences tomorrow).  However, having been advised that, had she not been treated as quickly as she was, she might not have survived to see Christmas, the real blessing was, and is, that we still have her with us.

Others had their own stories to tell, but the thing that I noticed was that not one shared about some cash windfall; a flashy new car; a spectacular holiday; a bigger house; or any of the 'material' things that would be considered by "the world" to bring happiness.  Of course, those events, and situations, that were shared could not have been purchased by even all of the billionaires in the world pooling their financial resources!  They were events, and situations, that far transcend any material benefits.   They were events, and situations, that brought real happiness - happiness that lasts, and is not affected by the world's financial markets, and currency exchanges.  They were "true blessings"!  

I trust that you experienced something similar in 2014 - and will, again, in 2015.

Back to the Commandments in the next post!