“So how’s the job going? How are the perks and benefits?” Have you ever regretted asking someone that question? It’s like unplugging a clogged pipe. With force and fury it spews out, almost knocking you over. There aren’t enough words to describe the intensity of their pent up feelings. “Sickeningly stingy! Pathetically mean! Down right cheap!”

Often people aren’t very happy with their employer’s benefit package. To call it ‘bare bones’ would be an undeserved compliment. You could hardly call it ‘benefits’ – definitely not ‘perks’. You hear about others who have amazing benefits from their employer. i.e. 4 weeks paid vacation; generous sick time; medical and dental benefits; a rich pension plan; job security; severance, etc. You listen closely and the disgust builds within you as you think of your puny, skimpy benefits.

The Psalmist David was thinking about his benefits package and he could hardly contain himself. He erupted – but dirt and sludge were not spewing out. When the cap was taken off, he erupted in a fountain of praise.

So often we are focused on the bad things in life – the disappointments; the family problems; the hurts and emotional wounds; the hard times and the financial distress; the issues in the local assembly; illness and everything else. David had his share of problems too but it seems when he got alone with his God his spirits were lifted! Perhaps he was taking a stroll beside a flowing river or resting at an ancient well or sitting on a hill overlooking a picturesque valley. Maybe he was on his knees beside his bed at the crack of dawn – alone with his God.

Quiet. Alone. Reflective. Thinking and communing with the Lord. Breathing out a line here and there. One minute a confession of his failures and the next a confession of his love for the Lord. Perhaps the thoughts were scattered. Maybe it was not an orderly prayer at the start. Sometimes our minds can be so scrambled and jumbled when we start to pray. But then as we call out on the Lord and have our spirits renewed in His presence, we begin to focus. Have you ever started to pray and for the first little while all you do is keep wiping the tears from your eyes but by the time you’re finished you can’t wipe the smile away?

David said: “With every ounce of energy and every fiber of my body and every faculty of my being – I want to bless and praise the Lord for ALL His benefits! The benefits of which I am aware, such as the forgiveness of my sins and His ability to heal my sicknesses but also the umpteen times He has preserved me from injury, accident and death.” Most of the time we aren’t even aware of the calamities, the accidents and the illnesses He has preserved us from. We only know about the obvious close calls.

And is that all? What about the other innumerable blessings and benefits of having an eternal relationship with the Almighty?!!

The Apostle Paul wrote about not only what we enjoy in the here and now but what awaits us in the future: “that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7.

Dear Christian, as you delete this email, don’t forget ALL His benefits – now and forever.