God has really blessed me. I know it. But it’s easy to look around sometimes and see what everyone else has and then say to God “Why do they have (something I want) and I don’t?” It’s easy to feel like my blessings are less when compared with others. But it all depends on your perspective. Well, God gave me some of His perspective last night.

I have a friend named Jay that I’ve known for 25 years. I haven’t seen him in about 15 years – he lives in the Midwest and I live in the Southwest. But we have kept in touch somewhat sporadically over the years by phone and social media. We used to drink and smoke weed together, and occasionally we would do other harder drugs when the opportunity came around. The party was always at my place, since I had a nice comfortable apartment with a great stereo and cool neighbors. I’ve been clean for 10 years now, because God delivered me from a life of partying and drugs.

Jay has gone down a different path. After I moved away he got into meth, then progressed over the years to heroin. He has been in and out of methadone treatment many times over the years, but has always gone back to street drugs. Well, recently he got into fentanyl. And he’s into it pretty heavily. When I talked with him a couple months ago, he told me the paramedics had made a few visits to his place to give him Narcan because he overdosed several times.

Jay called me last night on video chat. He proceeded to tell me that his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend, and that now he was living in the same apartment with them but she wants nothing to do with him – she’s with his friend now. So he lives in the room across the hall from them, for now. He doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to stay there, because they may put him on the street soon. He broke down crying, telling me that his life is a mess and he doesn’t want to live any longer. I talked with him for about 45 minutes, and shared the Gospel with him again. He said he knows he should give his life to Christ, but hasn’t yet. I was very blunt with him, and told him that if he chose to wait and he ends up dying and standing before the Lord unsaved, he will face an eternity of regret in hell. I pleaded with him to imagine being in hell forever, knowing he could have avoided it but didn’t. He told me he knows. But he’s said that before, so I don’t know. Please pray for my friend Jay.

After the call ended I went to share what happened with my wife, and we prayed for his salvation. And then it hit me: THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME. I could have been in his position right now, but I’m not. Why? Because Jesus Christ saved me. He pulled me out of the mud and set my feet on solid ground. He delivered me from drugs, and has been busy changing me ever since. He has given me a life that I never could have even possibly imagined 20 years ago.

There’s always someone who will appear to have it “better” than me. I realized that I need to be more thankful for what God has given me. My entire family is saved. My wife loves me, and I get sex whenever I want. I have a beautiful house in a great area, with a nice yard, fruit trees and a garden. My kid goes to one of the best schools in my city. My wife and I have good jobs, and we’re not struggling paycheck to paycheck. We go to a good church, where the Word is faithfully preached, and I have been given the opportunity to teach from time to time as well. I’m healthy and strong, and have the gym and homemade food to keep me that way. I know the truth of God’s Word, as well as Red Pill Christian truth.

I’m blessed. And I always need to keep that in mind and have an Attitude of Gratitude every day. Examine your life today. I bet you will find you are sometimes less thankful for what God has given you than you should be. Go to Him today and thank Him for what He has done for you through Jesus Christ. He deserves nothing less!