Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for blessings I don't deserve—and even for the ones I tend to overlook.

In a world that depersonalizes and diminishes people, thank you for telling me who I am. To the government, I'm a Social Security number. To the post office, I'm "Occupant." To a Zen Buddhist, I'm a rock tossed into the water that causes no ripple. To a Hindu, I'm a speck in an impersonal universe with less value than a Holstein cow. To a macroevolutionist, I'm a grown-up germ—the result of a lucky lightning strike that happened to hit some swamp soup a billion years ago. To an atheist, I'm alone in the universe without any purpose or hope. To a materialist, I'm nothing more than skin and bones and blood and muscle, and when my body dies, my existence ends. In a selfish world, I'm a nobody—a consumer with money to spend, a box on an organizational chart at work, a mail slot in a company mailroom. But your Word tells me I'm fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God—a person with infinite value. Thank you for creating me!

In a world filled with hardship and despair, thank you for giving me hope. You've forgiven me, accepted me, pardoned me. You've given me mercy I don't deserve, and taken upon yourself the punishment I do deserve. You've stretched my searching mind, comforted my wounded emotions, and taken up residence in my far-from-perfect body. At the old rugged cross and the empty tomb, you not only changed human history; you changed my history and my future forever. Thank you for saving me!

In a world where so many things go wrong, thank you for all the things that go right. Thanks for churches that preach Christ. For songs like "Amazing Grace." For old friendships that grow stronger through the years, and new friends who introduce us to new ways to grow. Thank you for periods of good health, and for doctors, nurses, and hospitals to help when health fails. Thank you for assuring us that growing older merely moves us closer to glory, not farther from significance.

Thanks for plentiful food, and opportunities to share the bounty with others who are hungry. Thanks for missionaries, and the opportunity to share in their work through prayers and offerings. Thank you for giving us our daily bread and other good and perfect gifts too numerous to count. Thank you for blessing me "with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), in whose name I pray. Amen.