Blessing Number Six

Lately, I’ve been hearing and reading quite a bit about what it’s like to follow Christ in other countries. I’ve been viewing various PowerPoint presentations and looking at many magazine pictures of Christian people in other lands. Many of these people live under conditions that we can’t even imagine. Some have mud and dirt on them, or bugs, or even worse, they sometimes have marks of dried blood. And what always humbles me is that many of them are smiling.

It often makes me ashamed when I think about how much I take for granted the freedoms and opportunities we have here in this country. These freedoms and opportunities don’t only extend to us as Christians, but also to individuals in a general sense.

I touched on all this in a recent post which was called “It’s My Privilege.” God has been kind enough to allow me to be born here in America. I have a lot of concerns about this nation and I must admit it worries me to see some of the things that are happening, but I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. As I discussed in the other post, I’m still proud of my country and I’m grateful that I have the privilege of praying for it.

Thank you Lord, for my country.

My country, ‘tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From ev’ry mountain side
Let freedom ring!
~Samuel Francis Smith, 1832