It all feels like it was just yesterday. Gathering together to celebrate with our friends. Watching from the balcony as jets buzzed overhead while spraying the three colors of the national flag. Walking down to the main part of town to listen to live music and watch well-orchestrated demonstrations by various branches of police and armed forces. Waiting until the darkness fell to watch the fireworks. It was a fantastic day of celebration with all attention placed on every detail of celebrating the birth of a Republic. This was national pride and I felt blessed to be in the midst of so much celebration. Amidst all of the festivities it wasn’t hard to feel the excitement and even a sense of national pride stirring within my own chest. Yet the next day things were back to normal. It was back to work or school, back to the daily routines of life, back to waiting in lines for paperwork, waiting in lines to pay bills, and the rigors of navigating bureaucracy. Aside from the copious amount of trash littering the streets and main town square, remnants of the previous evening’s festivities, the celebrations of the day before were all but forgotten. This was Italy!

On Wednesday we celebrated the 4th of July, Independence Day. Our experience wasn’t much different than it had been in Italy, but this time we were celebrating something closer to home, the birth of our nation. We were celebrating the freedoms we have and how great it is to live in a country like the USA! Other countries celebrate their independence as well, but there really is nothing like being an American. Being a citizen of the United States of America comes with privilege, protection, and opportunities for prosperity. There are many around the world (even in countries like Italy) that would give anything, everything, to be citizens of this country. We are truly blessed. Yet by Thursday morning everything was back to normal. Back to work, back to the daily routines of life, back to news headlines of those discontent with one or more aspects of our government. It’s almost as though we’ve already forgotten how blessed we are and the reasons for celebrating the day before.

As Christians we often experience this too. We gather together to worship on Sunday, sings songs of praise to our great God, hear from God’s word, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and remember how blessed we are to be citizens of something even greater than a nation. We are part of something so much bigger and better! We are sons and daughters of God! We are citizens of Heaven! We are blessed beyond compare! Yet by Monday morning it’s back to work, back to the daily routine of life and, so often, we hardly remember the reasons we gathered together the day before.

In Psalm 67 the psalmist begins with a prayer for blessing not just as an end unto itself, but rather to see God’s way experienced on the earth, His salvation among the nations. The heart of the psalm almost shouts with anticipation at the thought of God’s righteous rule over all the nations on the earth. The conclusion is that God blesses His people so that all the ends of the earth might fear Him. God blesses His people so that He might be glorified throughout the whole earth. That’s the point! For those of us who can call the USA “our nation” AND can call God “our God”, we of all people are tremendously blessed. But we must remember that God’s blessings are not an end unto themselves; we are blessed for a purpose. How has God blessed you and how will you use those blessings for His glory?