I was privileged to participate in the Consecration of a new bishop on this past Saturday. The Rev. Steve Wood, rector of St. Andrew's, Mt. Pleasant, SC, was consecrated as the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas. It was a grand service with Archbishop Robert Duncan, bishops from around the country, and clergy and people from throughout the new diocese.
For you will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.
I know many people who view their life like a glass that is half-empty. “I can’t believe this happened to me!” “I missed out again.” “I wish I had a better job.” “Why can’t my spouse get with it?” It’s like they live their life always regretting, always upset, and always needing more. These folks are NEVER SATISFIED!
There is nothing wrong with ambition, nothing wrong with wanting to improve one’s lot in life, and nothing wrong with seeking after more, but not at the detriment of counting the blessings of God in your life. God has blessed us more than we can ever imagine or understand, and we just sail along in life feeling like we have been deprived and have nothing to rejoice about. We focus on what we don’t have rather than what we do have.
It is easy to take for granted being able to breathe until we meet someone with a lung disease. It is easy to take for granted our ability to see until we meet someone who cannot. It is easy to take for granted the job we have until we encounter someone who can’t find a job. It is easy to take for granted our family until we learn of someone whose child was killed in a drive-by shooting or in a movie theatre. It is easy to take for granted the home we live in until we meet someone who has lost their home because they lost their job. It is easy to take for granted our freedom in this country until we meet someone from a country where they cannot choose how many kids they can have, what kind of car they can drive, or which god they can worship.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thess.5:16-18). Can you do this? Can you count the blessings you do have rather than the blessings you don’t? Can you take stock and inventory your life at how blessed you really are? If you can, then your life will be a wonderful experience!