Are you blessed today…it is a sure thing

Are you blessed today…its a sure thing
Today I was thinking how blessed I have been to still be walking, talking and able to have coherent thoughts. After drinking up to a fifth of alcohol a day for more years than I would like to admit or remember I can sit at and type whole sentences and some of them even make sense. I know for sure that it is a miracle. Yet many times I have to ask myself, do I deserve it and of course the answer is no.
Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death and if it ended right there every one of us would be lost. But the same verse goes on to tell us, “the gift of God is eternal life” and how is that so, “in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
There were so many times in my life I seemed to court death. I worked in a profession, as an Ironworker, where some died just doing a normal day’s work. But along with that I drove regularly intoxicated and high on some form of speed. Because of or in spite of this I was involved in four major accidents, walking away from every one with minor injuries. Even more of a blessing I did not hurt or kill any innocent folks with my carelessness. I used to say I was a lucky guy. But today I know better.
God has a plan for all of our lives. I am not saying it was His plan that I drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs, no quite the opposite. But it was His will that I would survive and I sure believe that it is His will that I share and “remember the wonders he has done, His miracles…” (Psalm 105:5) in my life and because of this seek His mercy and love daily.
And you know what, you do not have to be a recovered addict like myself to seek God’s will and to look for His mercy. Maybe today you can take a moment humble yourself and with the psalmist David pray this beautiful prayer from Psalm 139 verses 23-24, “Search me, O God and know my heart. Try me, and know my anxieties: And see if there are any wicked ways in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.”
I find myself praying this often. I like to remind myself that I have earned way too much of the wages that lead to death. But not always in sadness or regret, but in thanksgiving for a God so big that He can forgive and transform even the likes of me. And wow, because of that, you and I CAN claim that “gift” Paul spoke of, everlasting life, knowing it comes free “in Christ Jesus” the one who already died for all my sins and yours too!
Borrowing from a favorite saying of a friend of mine, “How cool is that?

4/28/17
John