God's Benefit Package

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Scripture: Psalm 103:1–7(ESV)

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.[1]

Meditation:
            I once worked for a company that gave all its employees a list of all the benefits they were receiving from the company as part of their employment. They wanted to remind the workers that they were receiving more than just a paycheck every two weeks.
            So the psalmist here in psalm 103 reminds us of some of the benefits of knowing and following God. The ones listed here are forgiveness, healing, redemption, love and mercy, satisfaction of basic needs, and vindication and justice for the oppressed. What an awesome God we serve!
            Maybe it’s time we tell others about God’s benefit package. Perhaps it is also time to remind ourselves of these benefits. And to realize that unlike benefits that an employer might owe to an employee; these benefits are a free gift of grace from our awesome God!

Prayer:
Open our eyes Lord, and help us see all the benefits of being your people. Help us to share the Good News of your “benefit package” with those who need to hear about it. In Jesus name we pray it, Amen.

[1] The Revised Standard Version (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1971), Ps 103:1–7.

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