Without water drops, there can be no oceans; without steps, there can be no stairs; without little things, there can be no big things! – Mehmet Murat Ildan

What’s one blessing today? In his blog, Bible teacher, James Early wrote: Last week, in a class I teach at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT, I asked the group what they were grateful for. This class is designed to help prepare the men for re-entering society. It was pretty inspiring to hear all the things they were grateful for, especially in light of the fact they’re in prison. Most of the guys expressed gratitude for their health, their family, their friends, and most importantly, their relationship with God. It was wonderful to hear all this gratitude pour out of their hearts. But one fellow surprised us all when he said he was grateful for his toothbrush. There were a couple of chuckles in the room, but I asked him to give us a little more detail. I wondered for just a moment if he was joking. But he explained that at one point he needed a toothbrush and went to the Commissary, a place the men can purchase food and personal items. He ended up buying two. Recently one of his toothbrushes broke and it was a good thing he had a spare, because the Commissary was completely out of toothbrushes for quite a while. This man was very grateful simply to have a toothbrush.

Okay, to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever been thankful for a toothbrush. In fact, it’s much worse than that, I find that often I take the seemingly little blessings of life for granted…until they’re not there. 

I hate taking a cold shower…did I mention that I hate taking a cold shower? When I was in Bible college, cold showers were common. You couldn’t get up until 5 am. If you weren’t in the shower by about 5:10 am, be ready for ice cold water. My solution was to walk in the snow to the wrestling gym to shower there. 

If I asked you, “What are you grateful for?” what’s the first thing you think of? Is it something big or small? Something recent, something in the distant past, or something in the future that hasn’t even happened yet? 

In a modern world with so many modern conveniences, we take so much for granted. We neglect to be thankful for the seemingly little things that much of the world covets. That’s not all, but because we have all of these modern conveniences, it’s easy to develop an entitlement mentality. 

Just cut off the supply of the seemingly basics that we take for granted and listen to the howls. There would be protesting, even riots if there was no clean water, electricity, gas or even WIFI.  

While I believe that a responsible government in a modern world should work to assure those things, yet, when I speak an “entitlement mentality,” I’m talking about our attitude toward God. What does God really owe us? God’s Word says that None is righteous, no, not one…no one seeks for God. All have turned aside…no one does good, not even one… for all have sinned (Romans 3:10-12, 23). 

So, imagine you’re a landlord and have a tenant who refuses to pay their rent, but on top of that, they destroy your home. They have pets they’re not supposed to have. Animal urine and feces have stained the carpet. They weren’t paying attention and something caught fire on the stove, leaving smoke damaged ceiling and walls. But then they call you up and they’re having a meltdown, cussing you out because the kitchen faucet drips. How would you feel? How would you respond? 

On a much greater scale, God is the Creator and owner of everything, but we’ve trashed His world. He gave us the gift of life, and we often trash the body that He’s given us. Frequently, we fill our minds and hearts with filth. Then, God gave His Son to die for us, to pay for all of our sin, and we either blow it all off or take it for granted. But let one thing go wrong – we get sick, lose our job, our car breaks down – and we’re yelling at Him, even cussing God because our lives have some inconvenience. We think the “Landlord” owes us when we haven’t paid the rent of surrender to Him. 

Maybe you’re like me. Though I’m part of His forever family, though I’ve committed my life to Christ, I’m ashamed how ungrateful that I too often am, how I can be irritable, even angry with a small inconvenience. 

For example, I can’t remember the last time that I thanked the Lord for electricity but let the power go out and I’m dialing WE Energies. 

Did you know that 1.18 billion people in the world don’t have electricity? Then, others live with unstable electricity…sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Even in our country many live with “brownouts” because the power grid is overloaded. 

In many countries, you’ll be warned not to drink the water! It’s estimated that 1 in 4 people around the world don’t have access to clean water. Then, one in two are suffering from water scarcity for several months of the year. 

But not only can most of us turn on the faucet, we buy special bottled water. The shelves are overflowing at your local gas station with varied brands of bottled water. It’s hard to believe that many of us grew up drinking water out of a garden hose.

Personally, having grown up in the south, I’m more concerned about not having air conditioning than heat (Jane has joked that she’s going to embalm me in freon). It’s estimated that some 1.2 billion people around the world are at risk from extreme heat or a lack of access to air conditioning. 

What’s one blessing today?When we are habitually thankful for the small things, it helps us to be more grateful for the big things. We take so many things for granted; sight, hearing, smell, friends, loved ones, homes…the list is essentially endless. God has given us so much!

Years ago, I read of a poor man who only had bread and water for his dinner. As he prayed for his meal, he thanked the Lord, and said, “All this and heaven too!” 

God has blessed us with so much! How thankful are we? Are we known more for our gratitude or griping? I’ve found that keeping a daily journal of my blessings helps me stay focused and to remember how good God is to me. Maybe that would help you, too. However, you do it, find a way to start with What’s my one blessing today?