“He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:23
It is easy to give to a grateful person and difficult to give to one that takes what you do for granted. Many years ago now our great Aunt Ruth decided to disperse some of her enormous estate. From the money she gave her sister, our grandmother, $100 was sent to me and to each one of my five siblings. I had never met Aunt Ruth but I was very excited about the $100 because at the time I was a broke college student. With the money there was a note from my mom that said to be sure to send Aunt Ruth a thank you note.
I was thankful and certainly planned on sending a note, but it just never happened. Sometimes stopping to say thank you is just unintentionally forgotten because of our busy lives that are always rushing to the next thing. Well it turns out that none of my siblings ended up sending Aunt Ruth a thank you note either, except for my sister Sheila. Sheila didn’t just send a note, she wrote a letter, detailing what she was doing with the generous gift sent to her. A month later, Sheila received a second check for $100 directly from Aunt Ruth. None of the rest of us got one. We certainly didn’t deserve a second check, in fact, we hadn’t deserved the first one.
And that’s how it is with God’s blessings as well. Sometimes I think it helps to remember that we are owed nothing, and that every blessing that comes to us is because of God’s generous love. He doesn’t want us to live in guilt because of His gifts, but He does want us to be thankful. The only sacrifice a thank offering requires is the time it takes to stop and reflect on our blessings. It won’t only honor God, it also prepares the way for His continued blessings.
One Thing 