Truly Blessed?

Remember back in August when I started this thing how I said that I wasn't sure why I was doing this? Remember how I said I would probably not be a good blogger? I hold fast to those statements. It has been a little over four months since my last post. That doesn't surprise me. I should have told you all that when I am in school, I kind of  get sidetracked. I get sidetracked a lot and my blog has definitely been something that I have neglected. Take heart, one of my new year resolutions is to be a better blogger! 

Now on to much more important things. In case you all haven't noticed, it's the holiday season, or it was. In these past few days people have been filled with Christmas cheer. On Christmas day, my Facebook newsfeed was flooded with my friends statuses celebrating the holiday and saying how truly blessed they are. In the moment, I echoed these thoughts and feelings of being blessed. Yet, now the more that I think about it, the more I question my own reasons for thinking/saying that I am blessed. Why do I think I'm blessed? Is it because of all the great gifts I got for Christmas? Is it because of all the awesome friends and family that I have? Is it because of my health? My family's wealth? Is it because of all the snow that South Carolina received this weekend? 

We as human-beings tend to think that the things that we have make us blessed. I asked myself this question: Would I continue to feel blessed if all of these "things" that I have all went away? What would I think if I didn't get anything for Christmas? What if I had no family or friends? What if I had cancer? Or I was homeless? I came to the conclusion that, yes I would still be blessed but not because of anything I have or because of who I am. It goes much deeper than all of that. 

None of the things mentioned above can, by themselves, make me blessed. I can't be blessed by anything I have or anything that I do. What really makes me blessed is the relationship I have with my Savior. I'm blessed because the Lord chose to bless me through the crucifixion of His son Jesus. I'm blessed because my sins are forgiven. I deserved hell, but because of what someone else has done for me I get to go to Heaven. That is what makes me and every other Christ follower truly blessed. 

Now I want to clarify something. I'm not saying that God cannot use these things to bless us. I would be a fool to think that I am not blessed by the relationships I have with other people. Yet the moment I begin to think that my friends by themselves are a blessing to my life, that's where I've gone wrong. I have to realize that what the Lord has chosen to bless me with is solely from Him and no one else. He should get all the glory for what I have been blessed with. Even if I was poor and sick I would still be blessed because I know my Savior and He has redeemed me. 

Why are you blessed? Is it because of what you have or who you know? Or is it because of who has saved you? My prayer for you is that you feel blessed because God has truly blessed you, not because of some possession you have. Job 1:21 says "God gives, God takes, God's name be ever blessed." I pray that no matter what your situation, that you know that being blessed comes from the Almighty God who chose to save us. 

Happy New Year, 

Ashley