The next entry for my Blog is 10,000 Reasons, which was written by Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman. The song was initially released in 2011. A link to Matt Redman performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.
10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)
(Chorus)
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Chorus
You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find
Chorus
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Chorus (2)
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
Lord, I’ll worship Your holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name
This song is a little different since it starts off with the chorus, but I believe it is intentional in that the chorus reminds us of the way we should be all day every day. In blessing our Lord, we are making him first, we are honoring him, we are letting him know that there is none greater than he, and we are giving him all honor and glory. He gave us the Holy Spirit to stay with us, comfort us, and remind us of his presence. When we bless God, our words and our honoring of him should come from deep within us; it is not the words we say, but the love and thankfulness we express. When we worship him, we are thanking him for what he has done for everyone who has accepted his son as our Savior, how he is there to give us strength in every step we take, and how he brings light into our lives that only he can bring. We should be singing songs of joy, sharing his praises, and letting the whole world know about our God! No where does God say we have to sing well or be eloquent in our words, he just wants us to sing his praises everywhere we go.
As we begin our day, shouldn’t we focus on the most important thing in our lives? The song says that we should start singing our praises as soon as our day begins. I think the key word in this first verse is “again.” This is making the assumption that we ended yesterday praising God, so why not start out the new day praising him? As we encounter the challenges the world throws at us today, we will know that we are not fighting these challenges alone. It doesn’t mean that we won’t face tough times and lose battles along the way, but with God at our side; we know what eternity brings. It is not all about winning every battle you face, it is about approaching the battles with God in your heart and by your side, and knowing that you ultimately win the war. Jesus died for us so we wouldn’t have to worry about our final home, but Satan still tries to steal our joy even though he knows the war ended almost 2000 years ago when Christ died on the cross for us. May the song that started anew in our hearts this morning, continue as our day comes to closure.
God is unfailing love and despite our many faults and many mistakes, he doesn’t turn his back on us or stop loving us. God is very compassionate and caring, but the bible does list many times when he became angry. He became angry and he showed his power and might as he punished those who disobeyed him. The exceptionally good news is that when we accepted Christ as our personal savior, all of our sins and punishment disappeared forever. It is true that we will continue to sin, but God will not see this sin since Jesus took all of our past, current, and future sins to the grave with him. So, when God sees us, he only sees us as being without sin. It is true we will make mistakes and do things we shouldn’t do and end up suffering the consequences of our actions, but God doesn’t get angry since he does not see us as sinners; he sees us as his children who will spend eternity with him. We know people who will forgive and probably never forget and may even get angry at us for a time, but fortunately; God does not act like his children. What would help all of us to stay on the right path would be to think about all of the things God has done for us our entire life. The list of blessings will be more than the 10,000 number offered up by the writers of this song. It seems like a very big number, but it is actually a very small number. Take a moment to think about what you were thankful for yesterday, each one of these are blessings and reasons we should praise our God. Take the number you came up with and multiply by the 365 days in a year, are you surprised? If you then take this number over a lifetime, 10,000 is in indeed a very very small number.
God is with us every hour and every day of our lives and walks every step with us. The day will come when we realize we don’t have much longer before we join our heavenly father. As our life ebbs away, he will still be bestowing blessings upon us. Maybe these blessings are in the people he sends to us, the people we have known in our lives, and maybe our memories; but the most important thing is that he is still by our side. As we finally make the move into our heavenly home, we should be leaving this home with his praises in our hearts and knowing that soon we will be able to praise him face to face. I don’t mean for this to be a somber ending to this blog entry, I just believe that each of us needs to realize that God has always been with us; from the time before we were born until the day we join him in our eternal home. God has been with us since before we were born. He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” We have never been alone and will never be alone.
I hope that you will take the time and think about the blessings God has given you. As you think about these blessings, let your heart sing as it has never sung before. As you leave your home and encounter other people, hopefully someone will ask you why you are so happy today and I hope you will tell them how they can be just as happy as you are. Today, start singing his praises as you have never sung before. As the old hymn tells, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.