It's somewhat amusing to me that we all grow up being taught to use "please" and "thank-you" with adults, and yet so often we forget to show this same gratitude and respect towards the One who deserves it most-our king, our provider, our Lord, our savior, our redeemer, our sustainer, our best friend, our joy, our strength, our everything...
As kids, we understand from an early age that it's considered rude to ask too much from adults- "please, please, please" leads to a talk about selfishness. Saying "thank-you" on the other hand doesn't have the same limit attached to it. "Did you say thank-you after they dropped you off?" "Remember to thank their parents for having you over!" "Don't forget to say thank-you when Granny and Grandaddy give you your gift."...sound familiar? For most of us, I'm assuming we heard plenty of these growing up, and now this "thank-you" nature is so engrained in us that our parents don't have to play reminders anymore. It would just be unnatural NOT to say thank-you after someone has done something/ blessed us in some way...and this adopted nature of thankfulness is by no means a bad thing. In fact, I think it's a really good thing, but going from there...
"What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?" (anonymous on pinterest.com)
If it hasn't hit you yet- re-read it...because the truth of the matter is we would all wake up with so, so much less than what we have now if this hypothetical played out in our reality. In all honesty, after my initial reading of this quote, I felt convicted. I am so human, and so often take for granted Christ's blessings in my life. I have been abundantly, abundantly blessed in multiple many ways. Just one blessing- having Christ as my Savior and getting to grow closer to Him should be enough to have me on my knees in a constant state of thankfulness. God doesn't owe us anything. He certainly was not obligated to send his son to redeem us, and yet He did. He certainly is under no contract or need to provide us with life itself or any of the extras: love, peace, joy, food, shelter, fellowship, family, health, beauty, strength, etc. and yet He does. He does. He does. He does. A good verse that portrays Christ's generosity to us is John 1:16 saying,
"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."
One blessing after another. after another. after another...bottom line- it would be perfectly fitting if all we ever said to God was "thank-you". And yet, so often I think we abuse the word "please" with God. I don't think that it's a negative thing to present requests to Christ. In fact, I think it deepens our relationship with him, and trains us to go to the Lord with our everything. When we are using "please" in a proper sense, in that we aren't abusing it for selfish reasons, I think we're able to really see God's providence come through. So long as we really desire God's will above all else, I think using "please" allows us the chance to ask God to use us more- to empower us with His spirit more- and to be used in ways that only He can make possible. Even without straight answers, we are able to see Christ work, and in that to find contentment. All that being said, I know that if I awakened tomorrow with solely the things I thanked God for today, I would be outlandishly limited in comparison to what I have today. Although we could sit around for eternity thanking God for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g, every seemingly magnificent and abstract thing to the atoms of objects, I know that's not reality.
If we spent all our time doing that, we would never get anything else done. And, I know that God has plans for us- He has things he wants us to do for his kingdom. I think the main desire that this quote reminded me of was to simply have a heart of thankfulness. Although I will not and cannot give accurate credit to God with my amount of "thank-yous", I can walk around with a heart full of thankfulness- one intent on showing gratitude to God for the big things and the small things. I want to be intentional with the way I praise God with my thank-yous. I want Him to know how humbled I feel when I consider just howwwwwwww much He has blessed me with. I want to acknowledge my thankfulness and extreme reliance on Christ for everything I have....and I challenge you to do the same...
...and not just because we could wake up one day without the things we didn't give thanks for, but simply because we are his children- He is our God- and He DESERVES all the "thank-yous" we can muster up in our hearts. May this practice/ state of mind and heart be the most engrained sense and compulsion in us that we ever come to know.
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