REMEMBER THE BENEFITS

             It can be self-serving but in most cases it is quite natural to ask “What’s in it for me?” when someone asks us to do something.  Why should I?  How will it benefit me?  Or, if we look for a new job, we want one that not only pays a decent wage but also has benefits.  More than ever before in this economy, benefits are important to us.

             In a similar way it is natural for us to ask why should I be a follower of Christ?  Why should I believe in God?  How does it benefit me?  The Psalmist has an answer for us in Psalm 103.  In the first five verses he lists five specific benefits.  He lived long before Jesus died on the cross on our behalf but what he says is a great summary of the benefits that we have in Christ.  Here is what he says:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

             and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

             And do not forget all his benefits—

Who forgives all your iniquity,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the Pit,

Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

Who satisfies you with good as long as you live,

             So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

             Can you think of any greater benefits than those? 

·         ** Forgiveness for all sin.

·      ** Healing.

·      **Redemption from the pit of destruction.

·      **Being crowned, or as one version puts it, being surrounded by steadfast love and mercy.

·       **And being satisfied with good all of our lives, or as another version puts it, “who satisfies your years with good things.”

             Sounds like a good deal to me.  I like those benefits, and all of them are available by faith in Jesus Christ who loved us and gave his life for us.  Let us think of his great benefits as we remember him who said, “this bread is my body, given for you; this cup is the blood of the new covenant shed for the remission of sins.  Do this in remembrance of me.”