Worship and Praise · Commitment and Service

While we are alive, we speak to God and thank him. Once dead, what then?… Let us not postpone thanking God!

6 min read, approximately

“On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy came to meet him. They stood at a distance and raised their voices, saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! When he saw them, he said: Go and show yourselves to the priests. As they went, they were cleansed. One of them, seeing that he had been healed, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice, and fell facedown at his feet, thanking him; he was a Samaritan. Jesus answered: Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:11-18)

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Case 1: ‘Routine’

The problem

We all know we are not eternal, yet we act as though we were… Everything we do has become routine, but giving thanks to God is far from our minds… We keep putting off praying and thanking God!

Example

“He said: This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my crops and possessions. I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years; rest, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. But God said to him: Fool, this very night your soul will be required of you; and whose will all you have prepared be? So it is with the person who stores up treasure for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:18-21)

Keep in mind

“You do not know what tomorrow will bring. For what is your life? It is certainly a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

Put into practice

“God, you are my God; early in the morning I will seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you, in a dry and barren land without water, to see your power and glory as I have seen you in the sanctuary. For your mercy is better than life; my lips will praise you. Thus I will bless you throughout my life; in your name I will lift my hands.” (Psalms 63:1-4)

Case 2: ‘Forgetting God’s blessings’

The problem

We have studied and acquired a little knowledge to do something very well, and we believe we need no help because we think we know everything! But believing we know everything leaves no room to learn more… Then it is easy to ask ourselves: Why should we give thanks?

Example

“… Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and complete in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: carnelian, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines and flutes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You, great guardian cherub, I placed on God’s holy mountain; you were there, walking among the stones of fire.

You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created until evil was found in you. Through the abundance of your trade you were filled with iniquity and sinned, so I cast you out of God’s mountain and drove you from among the stones of fire, O guardian cherub. Your heart grew proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I will cast you to the ground and set you before kings so that they may look at you.” (Ezekiel 28:12b-17)

Keep in mind

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4)

Put into practice

The Lord is wise, for

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.” (Psalms 147:5)

We need only say that

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,

by which he made us accepted in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and understanding, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself, to gather all things together in Christ in the dispensation of the fullness of time, both those in heaven and those on earth.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)

therefore

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.” (Psalms 103:2)

Case 3: ‘What is our case?’

Family? Work? Finances? Love? Health? Clothing? Food? Home? Guidance? Provision? Knowledge? Studies? Understanding? Strength? Decisiveness? Character? Self-control? Authority? Protection? Hope? Focus? Joy? Relationships? Enjoyment? Delights?… Life?
Sacrifice?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

“Will you show your wonders to the dead? Will the dead rise to praise you? Selah. Will your mercy be told in the grave, or your truth in Abaddon? Will your wonders be known in the darkness, and your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But I have cried out to you, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer will come before you.” (Psalms 88:10-13)

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May God continue to bless you, and may you continue to have an excellent day in Christ Jesus!