Day 18: Blessing of Life

Its so easy to think that living on this earth is not a blessing. The earth is filled with sin. We constantly have to fight against the effects of it and at times it almost seems like its not really worth living. At times everything seems so pointless. Life travels round in circles; sin prevails in the lives of many men. As the Preacher in Ecclesiastes says: "There is nothing new under the sun...and indeed all is vanity and grasping for the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

So how can there be a blessing in living on this earth, here and now, in a post-modern society?

Well, I think that it is somewhat a blessing to be able to live in this world. Today's world is blanketed by darkness and we have been called to be lights in it. Isn't that a blessing? We have been given the task to make a difference in this world; to do things and in so doing bring glory and praise to God's holy name.

If I think about this then it is a blessing to be able to live. Because it is a blessing to serve our heavenly Father, isn't it? We have been given the opportunity to proclaim God's name to this depraved world and what better time is there than now while we have life. God has blessed most of us with healthy bodies and the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional ability to be able to be a light in this world.

So while we live, we must see this life as a blessing also. As Paul said, "to die is gain but if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labour..." (Philippians 1:21) There are times I just long for this world to be over, that Christ would just come now so we could be with Him. It would be so nice if we didn't have to worry about all the things of this world, but we could just reign with Him eternally.

But we don't know when He will return, and when He does, I do not want Him to find me idle. We cannot sit here and just expect Him to return, for He will only do so once the number of His elect has come to completion. This requires work. It requires our lives. We need to live now. We need to live for God.

So the life that we live, we live to God; what richer blessing is there than to have life, also on this earth, and use it for His honour and glory.