Thank You, God Most High

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, to declare your faithful love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,

(Psalm 92:1-2)

I have been through many phases in my lifetime. Each phase has made me who I am today. If any one of those chapters had been slightly different, who knows what I might have become. Except this latest and longest lasting phase, the common thread through all those stages of my life was my rebellion against God. As a small child, I had a childhood belief in God. As I went through adolescence, however, my attitude toward God became hardened. By the time I was an adult, I was a full-fledged, card carrying, atheist. I was very vocal in my disbelief also. I wanted everyone to believe as I did, that God was not real, anymore than the Tooth Fairy is real. What a know-it-all jerk I was.

I always had an ability to make a living, working all but about 2 months in my whole career with 5 or 6 employers. If I got laid off some place, I was always able to find work in just a few days. Once, I was laid off on a Thursday and I started a new job the next Tuesday. Who do you suppose I thanked for that ability? It was not God, I can tell you that. I was too busy patting myself on the back and denying his existence. I was a talented machine designer, but I never gave credit for my talent to the one who gave it to me. I was finally brought low, knocked off my perch of pride, when back pain took me out of the workforce. It was truly a dark time in my life, both financially and emotionally.

Fortunately, when I was at about the lowest point in my life, some caring family members invited me to hear an evangelist who came to town. The Holy Spirit broke through my hardened heart through the spoken words of that evangelist. I was able to see how wrong I had been. I could feel the love of Christ flooding that auditorium. I gave my heart to the Lord that night and haven’t looked back. I thank God every day that he thought I was worth saving. He took a poor, blind, and naked wretch and turned me into his servant. I will do everything I can to show the love of the Savior to everyone I meet. He has provided for my every need and even made possible a few of my wants. I cannot begin to thank him enough.

Father God how can we not sing your praises? You give us everything. You give us each breath we take. Every beat of our hearts comes from you, Lord. The talent to earn a living and supply our family’s needs, is a gift from you. We thank you, Father, that we do not have to do anything to earn our salvation. That work has been done for us on the cross by your Son, Jesus Christ. We know we could never do enough to wipe out the sins we have committed on our own. We will praise your holy name as long as we have breath. As long as our hearts beat, we will give thanks for our salvation. We will use our talents to serve you. We will tell the world of your never-ending faithfulness. We thank you for each morning sunrise. We thank you for each day we can serve you. We thank you, Father, for our rest each evening. We thank you for the splendor and beauty of the painted sky at sunset. Please let us follow the urging of your Spirit to walk on the righteous path that you have laid out for us. We will give you thanks and praise your name forever while we are with you for eternity. Finally, thank you for your gift of Jesus Christ, who’s blood has cleansed us of our sins. It’s in his name, we pray. Amen!