"I want to know who to thank."
My class is called The Anchor Course, based on the class textbook I wrote with the same name. As we get acquainted with each other during the first week, one of the questions I ask is what drew them to the study. Most people express their desire to find something what will give meaning to life, but I remember one woman who gave me a unique answer.
"I have a different reason to be part of this study," she said. "I just had a baby and my life is filled with so much joy. I want to know who to thank."
What a profound statement! This young woman recognized that much of the wonder and joy in her life could not be attributed to anything she had earned. Perhaps for the first time in her life, she felt an overwhelming sense of what could only be described as gratitude, and for her that implied a Giver. It led her on a search for someone to thank.
We can be like pigs that came upon apples on the ground: we can enjoy the sweet things of life without ever looking up to see where they came from.
It’s true that a lot of people experience unfair pain and disappointment, but we are not looking at all the facts if we simply point to the undeserved heartbreaks of life and conclude that an attentive God doesn’t exist. We have to take into account the undeserved joys of life, too. When we do, like the young woman with her new baby, we will ask, “I want to know if there’s someone to thank for all this.”
David, the beloved poet-king of the Old Testament, had someone to thank. In one of his poems, overwhelmed with a sense of wonder and gratitude, he said to himself--
This Thanksgiving season, let a heart of gratitude lead you to the Someone you can thank!Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits.”
(Psalms 103:2 NASB)
(For more information on The Anchor Course, go here: www.lulu.com/spotlight/anchorcourse)
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