Readings
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17)
Thought
Recently I was given a small gift, it was a parting gift from someone who is moving to another part of the country as part of their job. The gift is a small piece of wood that has been smoothed and sanded so that it will fit in the palm of your hand. On the top of the piece of wood is inscribed the word ‘Diolch’. For those of you who do not speak Welsh (as I don’t) you may not know that diolch is Welsh for thank you. The gift was given as a way of saying thank you from someone who is Welsh. But the gift is more than that for on the side of the piece of wood has been inscribed a fish, so that when you hold it in your hand you remember not only the person who gave it to you but most importantly you remember to say thank you to God for what he has done for you.
As a young girl I sang in the junior choir at our Salvation Army church that we went to and one of the songs we used to really enjoy singing was about saying thank you. The song imagines a child saying their prayers at night and giving God a list of all the things that they would like God to do for them. Eventually the child remembers that they need to thank God for the things he has done for them and so the chorus goes ‘I nearly forgot to say thank you, for flowers and thrushes and things, for daisies that dapple the meadow and patterns on butterfly wings, for stars that shine, for winds that blow, the sun that melts the ice and snow, I nearly forgot to say thank you for rainbows that follow the rain, but really I want to say thank you again and again and again.
There are many references to saying thank you in the bible, especially in the psalms. The psalmist looks at what God has done, in creation and in his steadfast love and remembers to say thank you. My piece of wood will always remind me of the person who gave it to me, but most importantly it will remind me to thank God for all he has done for me and it will also remind me not just to bring a list of requests to him when I pray.
Prayer
Thank you that we are your creation and that you love us with a love that endures for ever.
Amen
Song:
His Love Endures Forever
Just in case you wanted to hear how the song goes:
I nearly forgot to say thankyou