Based on Psalm 103 (New King James Version)
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them. The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
We all have many things to thank God for, although many may think that this is not the case. Before we begin to see all that we do owe Him, we must begin to understand something very fundamental, and that is God's position and our position. God owes us absolutely nothing by virtue of being God, the highest and most powerful Being in the entire universe. There is nothing and no one who can demand from God, or hold Him accountable for anything, or anything like that. He is completely sovereign. So, understanding that principle, we should be able to understand that everything He gives us is by grace, that is, as a gift, because that is what God does. He gives everything by His grace and mercy.
Having said this, then, what do we owe Him (because although something is a gift, or given by grace, it was finally given and becomes debt)? So, we can start with this, that we are beings created and made by God. We would not exist if one day God hadn’t decided to create man. And every human being after that creation that is born is because God allowed it, regardless of whatever the situation may be. God allowed a being to exist. That is why abortion is such a great sin, because if God allowed that being to have life, even within the womb, it is a living being, a being that God wanted to bring into the world. Every being exists and lives because God allows it, just as you and I exist at this very moment, because God allowed us to exist. This is what the Word says: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13. So, each of us owes our existence to him. You exist because God by His grace allowed it.
In conjunction with existence, we owe God our every day, because He is the One who allows us to continue living. Nothing in the universe remains in existence without the will of God. This is what the Word says: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17. All things, even you and I, subsist by the grace of God. Science can try to explain things in a practical manner what happens in each of us, but the only thing that science can try to do is to explain, but the matter of existing, of being responsible for the action of subsistence, is God's and not science or even ourselves. God is the one who allows your brain to function and make your involuntary actions happen, the breathing of your lungs, the beating of your heart, blood to flow through your arteries and veins, food to be digested, so many things that happen in each of us without us doing it consciously, everything that happens by the grace and mercy of God. And we are dealing with the things that happen within us. Think about everything that happens outside of us that also allows us to subsist, such as the cosmos, the position of the planets in our solar system, the air, the rain, the sun, so many things that must happen for us to exist that none of us can control. What would happen if God allowed an asteroid to hit our planet? What would happen if gravity suddenly stopped working? What if it never rained again? What could we do about it? Nothing. And what happens when a person's heart simply stops working? Everything subsists by the grace and mercy of God, because again, God owes us nothing.
And finally, what is the grace or mercy that we mostly owe to God (because existing and subsisting here and now has no real value if one day everything ends for a person)? The opportunity for salvation, what God did through His Christ on the cross at Calvary. Greater grace and mercy does not exist, because we all deserve to die eternally for our sins, for it is written: “For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23a. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. Someone may say: “It sounds harsh that we have to die eternally for our sins.” Let us think for a moment about the injustice that is committed against God. We established everything that God gives us daily, and not only is He not appreciated, but everything is used for evil, to offend him, not to acknowledge or thank Him as such. Is it fair that human beings return evil to God for all the good He does? No! Therefore, sinning, whether a little or a lot, deserves eternal punishment because it offends the eternal God. But blessed be God who is very merciful, as it is written: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” Titus 2:11. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17. If it were not for God, we would have no hope. But He gives us the opportunity for salvation through His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This life and everything we have in it is a gift, but nothing compares to the gift of eternal life, nor does our best or worst day here and now compare to the eternal life that awaits all of us who choose to love and fear Him because that is how you legitimately obtain God's mercy. So, do you understand and appreciate His mercy, which He has made freely available to you? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel.