It is true that every mitzvah we do earns us endless rewards, however, Chazal have taught us that the best type of avodat Hashem is one that is not motivated by rewards or what we can get out of it. To put it in our terms, nobody likes others doing things on their behalf when, ultimately, those people are just using them to try to get their own needs taken care of. The best way to serve Hashem is with feelings of hakarat hatov, feelings that we are the ones who owe Him and it is our greatest privilege to be able to show our gratitude by following His will. If someone would give a person a million dollars as a gift and then afterwards ask him for a favor to pick up his child from school, the person would be so eager to do that favor, not because he thinks he is going to get more, but rather because he already feels so indebted, he can’t wait to show some form of appreciation. This is how we have to feel every time we come to do any kind of avodat Hashem. Hashem does endless kindnesses for us every moment of the day.

The Chovot HaLevavot in the Shaar HaBechina describes dozens of chassadim that Hashem does for us that without them being pointed out, we would never even realize. One of them is, based on a Gemara which says that Hashem decreed על המטבע שיצא – that currency should be an acceptable form of payment. This is not just a chesed, it is a wonder of creation. It used to be when people wanted to buy something, they would only be able to trade with what they had. Some people had wheat fields, some barley, some people owned cows and others owned sheep. If the sheep owner needed wheat and the wheat owner needed wool, they would be able to barter with each other. It was very cumbersome to have to bring all of one’s commodities to the marketplace each time he needed something. Then, at one point, Hashem put into the minds of man to give value to metals like gold and silver. A shiny rock that can’t help a person in any way all of a sudden became a prized possession. That made it so much easier for people to buy things and also helped people who didn’t own fields or the like who were now able to make purchases. And then, at a later point in history, Hashem did another wonder, He made all people in the world value the common currency which is nothing more than a piece of paper. People will work day in and day out anticipating receiving those papers at the end of the week or the end of the month. This is a chesed of Hashem. Now, it is so easy to get things done through hiring people and it is so easy to make purchases. Because Hashem made everyone agree to give these papers value they became valuable.

The greatest chesed of all that Hashem did for us is that He gave us the Torah. Besides all of the endless rewards which come along with it, it also gives us meaning and purpose to every moment of our lives. The entire world is searching for meaning, there are so many people who feel empty and purposeless. How fortunate are we that we have purpose in everything we do. From the moment we wake up, we have what to say, how to wash, how to get dressed. We are able to feel that great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with every mitzvah that we do. For someone to feel real, inner satisfaction is the greatest blessing and Hashem gave that to each and every one of us. We always know Hashem is watching us and appreciating everything we do and that gives us the greatest chizuk.

There are thousands of blessings Hashem gives us that we don’t even recognize and that’s besides for all the obvious blessings that He gives all people. Somebody said the other day, “I take everything I have for granted,” and he went on to list the most beautiful blessings that he has. And he was bemoaning the fact that he wished he could appreciate more, rather than always focusing on the one thing that he is missing. This is a big task but it is very doable. We are the ones who control our thoughts and we have the ability to focus the right way. We can open up the Shaar HaBechina and start seeing all of these great chasadim that the Rabbi points out to us.

May Hashem help us serve Him all the time with true feelings of hakarat hatov.

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