We all like benefits. Especially when looking for a job, we look for those perks that will make it worth our time coming to work. Vacation days, retirement, holidays, sick leave, and insurance entice us—even if it means working extra hours.
God knows we need benefits in life. He understood that need so well that He designed a way to make them available to us. But unlike our earthly employers, His plan does not require us to clock in forty hours a week to receive the benefits. We can get them and the paycheck without working for it. He made this possible when He sent His Son, Jesus, to do the work so we could enjoy the benefits.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, NIV).
The benefits of receiving Jesus as Savior are spiritual and physical. They affect our eternity and our stay here on earth.
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 (Psalm 103:1-5, NKJV).
Forgives All Our Sins
The greatest benefit Jesus provided for us was the forgiveness of our sins. Our sin separated us from God, dooming us to hell for eternity. But when we receive Jesus as our Savior, God wipes out that sin, and He gives us an eternity in heaven. While some businesses won’t hire us if we have something significant on our record, God will forgive it all and let us join, not just the company, but the family.
Heals All Our Diseases
Sickness is a curse God defeated through the cross at the same time He conquered sin. God hated disease so much that He allowed His Son to receive stripes on His back to pay for our healing (Isaiah 53:5,6). Medical assistance is a great benefit, but God does more than give us insurance to cover our medical bills. He heals the disease.
Redeems Our Life from Destruction
To redeem means to buy back. We used to belong to the author of destruction, the devil. But the blood of Jesus purchased our lives from his grip. We were delivered from spiritual destruction through eternity in hell and physical destruction through physical harm on earth (Psalm 91). This deliverance is better than any workman’s compensation!
Crowns Us with Lovingkindness and Tender Mercies
God’s heart toward us goes far beyond what any employer could offer. Every day He proves how much love motivated His package of benefits to us. Like a gentle father, God extends His kindness and compassion in the good and bad times. When we struggle, He is there to comfort us. When we question our worth, His loving arms remind us that we belong to Him.
Satisfies Our Mouth with Good Things
God doesn’t just take care of the necessities. He adds to our lives good things, blessings that belong to a child of God. These blessings are a response to the desires of our hearts and make our lives energetic and youthful (Psalm 37:4). As we overflow with these blessings, we can turn around and pass them on to others!
All these benefits are available to us through the sacrifice of Jesus. He paid the price for us to have it when He endured torture, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. But just because He made it available doesn’t mean it automatically comes to us. We must receive it by faith. We must believe in Him and what He has done for us so we can experience it in our lives. We must declare Him as our Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9,10). Once we are His, we must receive everything He offers, believing it’s ours.
Some days it may not look like we are part of God’s family or experiencing His benefits. When we experience destruction, sickness, and heartache, it may not look like God’s lovingkindness is on our side. But even sin can’t separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:31-39). Our status as a child of God does not change because the devil tries to attack our relationship with God or our peace on the earth. God’s benefits are still available. We only need to hang on to them, refusing to let the thief take what legally belongs to us. Our contract with God, after all, was not signed with the devil’s counterfeit signature but with the powerful blood of Jesus!
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10, NIV).
Christa Madrid 
Aren’t those glorious verses in Psalm 103? In fact, the whole psalm is delightfully uplifting, as it highlights benefits of knowing God. He does indeed satisfy us with His goodness–in many ways!
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Amen!
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