Have you counted your blessings recently?

This week, I had the privilege of paying a relatively short visit with Irene to my mum in New Zealand. We left on Sunday night, and returned Wednesday evening. Stop and think about that for a minute. It's not that long ago that you wouldn't have dreamed of going to New Zealand for just three days – unless you were a businessman. Such travel was too expensive – you'd stay at least a couple of weeks to make it really worthwhile. But the airfares for this trip were only $200 return!

This is just one aspect of modern living. Think also of the technology that can be used to record such trips, or the drugs people are able to take that can provide cancer sufferers (for example) with a longer life and better quality of life than might otherwise have been expected. Consider the internet (and the way it keeps getting faster!), the quality and reliability of our water, electricity and telephone services or the developments being made in the automotive industry (DVD players in cars, hybrid technology and so on).

We have so many blessings, and yet we can so easily take them for granted.

Time and again in the Scriptures, we see God's people being called to not take Him for granted. And the primary way in which we do that is by explicitly putting time and effort into thinking about His grace and mercy.

So then, let's take the time – all the time – to think about these blessings; to thank God for cheap airfares, for cameras and video cameras, for drugs and the internet and services and comfortable cars. And, above all else, of course, for Christ our Saviour, the greatest gift God has ever given us.

Nigel Cunningham