Friday, August 2, 2013

The Perfect Thanks

My last post was pretty emo.  I had been in something like a 2 week funk because who I am was being attacked and I, at the time, chose isolation over the Lord which only led to more funk.  Praise Him that I am out of that now.

As I have been doing some spring(ish) cleaning in my heart the last few days I have been looking at the truth of what the Lord has done and is doing in my life.  I cannot argue his intervention or his blessings.  Especially in contrast to the lies Satan has been feeding me, they stand bright as the noon day sun.  For instance, I was once told that I would not live to go to college.  I had, as well as my family, an incurable disease that would result in my death.  The Lord healed me and my family.  I am nearly 23 now, which is nearly 5 years past my expiration date.  The Lord has healed and is healing the relationships within my family.  Everything I have now is because of the Lord and no other reason.  It was not human medicine or reason that saved my life and my soul.  It was God.

Obviously, I am extremely thankful that the Lord intervened in my life. I have often said that I cannot thank the Lord enough for all that he has done and is doing.  Saying I cannot thank the Lord enough implies debt though, and my debt has been paid. So what is the correct way to thank the Lord for intervening in my life? I found that answer this morning in Psalm 116:1. It reads,

 "I LOVE the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.  Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live."

"I Love the Lord" is the perfect thank you.  It is the exact response that Gods heart desires.  After all, He sent His ONLY son to become a curse and die for my sins so that the Chasm that entered between Him and us in the garden would be no more.  That chasm was my sin.  He conquered it like the hero I have always wanted in my life.  He did it for love. To show his love and, hopefully, have us love him back.  He is a Jealous God who desires us to Love him.  SO much so that He asks for us to abandon everything for Him. Every idol, every worldly thing so that we would love him completely.  He died so that the greatest love story ever told could be finished. 

When he intervenes in our lives, he does not need a grand prayer of thanks full of many words.  Our works and words could never be enough to even equal the gravity of what He has done.  That is why, "I LOVE the Lord" is perfect.  It fulfills royal law (Matthew 22:37-38) and fulfills the desire of the Lords heart.  Wrapped up in those four words is the expression of a relationship and the promise of our spirits to the Lord that he has in mind at the dawn of time.  With those four words, we welcome the Lord into our hearts and complete the relationship he has spent eternity creating.  It is the perfect thanks.

Marshall