“Lord, why did You bless me with so many good things?
You have allowed me to live in this great land of the free and home of the brave. I could have been born in a mud hut in Africa. Even though I am not rich by American standards, I am wealthy by the standards of the rest of the world. Lord, why have You been so good to me?”
Have you ever had such thoughts? Have you ever paused in prayer to consider the abundance that God has poured into your life? While some people may live in abject poverty, the vast majority of you reading this article are like me and mine. God has been so good to us, and we live in the midst of material abundance when compared to the rest of the world.
But that is not the half of it—our spiritual blessings are even greater. We live where the Gospel is declared freely. The Gospel is on open display 24/7. Our shelves are lined with Bibles, and we can read them without fear. Many in this world have no Gospel, no Bible and they live in fear all of their lives.
Why has God blessed us? I would suggest that God gives us a hint through His Word in the cooperate prayer of Israel in Psalm 67:1-3, “God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. That Your way may be known on the Earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You” (NASB).
The prayer is for God to be gracious and bless His people. At the end of the Psalm, it is clear the people are calling for both spiritual and material blessings. The reason for these blessings is simple, clear and powerful—”that Your way may be known on the Earth and Your salvation among all nations.” He then calls for all people to praise The Lord.
I would suggest that God has been so good to Oklahoma Baptists and set us in this land of plenty for a very good reason. That reason is not tied to bigger houses, fancier clothes or luxurious automobiles. God has given us so much so we can give generously to make Him and His way of salvation known among all nations. As a result, the nations may give Him glory and praise!
God blesses with abundance so I can give generously to the work of the Gospel. My abundance is not solely for my self-indulgence, but for the work of the Gospel. If you are a blessed person who has experienced the bountiful blessings of God in your life, be assured that a part of the purpose is Kingdom oriented. God is not opposed to us having good things. He is opposed to us holding on to His blessings in our lives oblivious to His grander Gospel purposes.
It is for this reason that I enthusiastically challenge you to utilize His abundance in your life to extend the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. It is why we, as Baptists, give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Our heart is to acknowledge both the material blessings and the spiritual reason God has poured out His abundance upon us. We give so the nations—people of every tribe and tongue—may have the joy of hearing the Good News of the Savior in their heart language.
It is hard for those of us who live in Gospel abundance to imagine there are teeming millions who have never even heard the name of Jesus, much less the Gospel. Millions live and die without hearing the story of Christmas and Easter. Lost and without hope, they do not know Him. But we, the blessed, have the joy of giving generously so missionaries can carry the Gospel to those who are lost and without hope.
Why are we so blessed? So we can be a blessing! So, I challenge you to join Polla and me in giving abundantly to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering so all may know Him and His way of salvation.
