I like being thanked… I’m guessing you do as well.
“Thanks for the message on Sunday.”
"Thanks for meeting up coffee.”
“Thanks for praying for me.”
“Thanks for another devotional.”
“Thanks for mowing the lawn.”
“Thanks for doing the laundry.”
“Thanks for cleaning the kitchen.”
“Thanks for going hiking and camping with me.”
Ok, I’ve never actually heard that last thank you before :).
I’m not sure what would make your list but I’m guessing like me, you are thankful when people express their thankfulness towards you.
In many ways, anytime someone says, ‘thank you’, I could easily respond to each thank you with, ‘Well, I’m just doing my job so no need to thank me.” I would not be wrong in saying that because after all, many of the things I listed above are well within my life and work ‘job descriptions.’
That being said, me telling someone they don’t need to say thank you is to take from them the opportunity to express their gratitude… and when I do that, I miss the opportunity to share with them their joy.
As we continue in our series… ‘I wrote in my journal like this’, I wanted to share one more journal entry from earlier this week.
Here’s what I wrote in my journal…
MY LIFE IS A THANK YOU CARD TO GOD?
The ‘question mark’ at the end of that statement is intentional. Meaning, I want my life to be a THANK YOU CARD TO GOD, but I’m just not sure it always is. And as way of greater context, the Psalmist is the one who spurred on this question in my journal.
See it with me in Psalms…
“As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should.”
Psalm 119:7 (NLT)
Wow… my life has the opportunity to be a THANK YOU CARD TO GOD. To be honest, in 53 years of being on planet earth, I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about my life like that.
My life as a living sacrifice to the LORD… yes… 100% yes.
My life as a living testimony to God’s grace and goodness… yes!
But my life as a THANK YOU CARD TO GOD… well, that seems not only new to me, but wow, what a beautiful way to live life.
According to the Psalmist, when we are living life as God would have us live, we are THANKING GOD.
In other words…
When you say what God wants said… you THANKED GOD.
When you did what God wanted you to do… you THANKED GOD.
When you went to where God wanted you to go… you THANKED GOD.
Anytime you and I do what God wants us to do, whether it’s in the big moments of life or the much smaller moments, our act of doing what God wanted done rather than doing what we wanted done is our way of THANKING GOD.
Now if you’re wondering, ‘What exactly are we thanking God for?’… great question. And here’s how I’d answer that… we are simply thanking God that He has made known to us the BEST WAY TO LIVE.
We are thanking God that His way is always the way of love, compassion, kindness, hope, and grace. We are thanking God that His way never leads to brokenness and bondage. We are thanking God that His way ALWAYS helps others around us see how AMAZING God truly is.
Our lives as a THANK YOU CARD TO GOD… what an amazing way to live!
And for the sake of space (because I’m running out of it), let me share with you the Psalmist’s prayer request in the very next verse because it’s something you and I need to be praying…
“I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me!”
Psalm 119:8 (NLT)
I love that the Psalmist knew that they would not get it right every time. Meaning, the Psalmist knew that living life as a THANK YOU CARD TO GOD will not be easy, so He asks the LORD, ‘please don’t give up on me!’
If you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU for reading!
Be encouraged to know that our very lives have the opportunity to be lived as an ongoing THANK YOU NOTE TO GOD!
