Among the most beautiful passages I have ever read is Isaiah. 46:3-4. To me it reads like a love letter from God. "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, you who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:3-4 If God had such warm, fatherly feelings for physical Israel, how much more do these intimate and comforting words belong to those who are children of Abraham by faith, (Galatians 3:6-7) whose hearts are fully His. What an intimate connection. What nurturing. What gratitude for His comfort we must have as His cherished children. This bearing He endures, this carrying us daily, this continual delivering of us from evil for the remainder of our days will forever inspire us to express our appreciation to Him in the ways He has asked us to express our appreciation.
How do we say “Thank You” to God?
- Renew your mind. “…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rom. 12:2 This work of transformation and the renewal it brings will continue the rest of our lives, and yet maintaining a godly perspective may be the most challenging accomplishment of all. How does one renew one’s mind?
- By making a decision to transform your mind. Our will must be stronger than the other forces that determine our behavior and choices such as seeking comfort, or maintaining a habit.
- By depending upon God to give us the strength to think differently. Prayer changes things, including our minds, and is the most efficient uses of one’s time.
- By “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”. 2 Cor 10:5 When we habitually and immediately remove all destructive thoughts from our minds, transformation becomes possible. I like to visualize these thoughts as a tennis ball entering my tennis court (or mind). It is allowed to stay only long enough to bounce before I whack it out, replacing it with a productive, transforming thought. Taking control of mental habits changes our minds.
- By setting up an environment for success. Make “no provisions for the flesh” (Rom. 13:14) Identifying and removing the activities which weaken your renewed mind will help you maintain your progress.
We can reach our full spiritual potential and live up to the purpose for which you were created when our minds have been transformed, and thereby express our appreciation to our Creator for all He does for us. What is the result of this transformation? When you change your mind, you “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God…”. (Rom 12:1) Your days will include pursuits that either directly or indirectly prepare you and others for eternity. Spend some time every day seeking wisdom. We seek wisdom by praying for it, and by intently listening to what God says in scripture. In Proverbs 2:1-6 we are also advised by God to seek for wisdom as for silver. What an amazing richness such seeking produces. Wisdom brings with it priceless blessings silver cannot buy.
How else can we show our appreciation?
Get excited about doing what you were created to do. What were you created to do? Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in Him… that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” Ephesians 2:10 further explains “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Sometimes saying, “Thank You” will mean denying ourselves. It certainly means identifying our heaviest responsibilities and carrying that cross daily. It may sometimes mean we must do what we should do rather than always what may be more pleasurable at the moment. It may even mean at times trading earthly gain for spiritual gain.
Wow. Is using your life to say “Thank You” to God worth all that? Best bargain you’ll ever find! Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” This tree is fruitful and productive. It is stable and nourished. Because it experiences refreshment, it is able to refresh others. It fulfils God’s purposes for being a tree. The tree in this scripture is a picture of how our lives can be when we live for God. I will conclude with a beautiful quote that is worthy of a slow and careful read:
“Concerning the abundant satisfaction which those have, and will have, who make God their confidence, who live by faith in His providence and promise, who refer themselves to Him and His guidance at all times and repose themselves in Him and His love in the most unquiet times. The duty required of us-to trust in the Lord, to do our duty to Him and then depend upon Him to bear us out in doing it-when creatures and second causes either deceive or threaten us, either are false to us or fierce against us, to commit ourselves to God as all-sufficient both to fill up the place of those who fail us and to protect us from those who set upon us. It is to make the Lord our hope, His favour the good we hope for and His power the strength we hope in…” (Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
If being filled with abundant satisfaction, confidence, providence, guidance, hope and strength seem worth using your life to say, “thank you” to God, then as Matthew Henry says, “repose yourself in the love of God”.
Cindy Dunagan
Author of the Journaling Toward Moral Excellence series of journals.
cindy@straightpathspress.com
Journaling Toward Moral Excellence
