Sunday, May 8, 2011

Waterfalls of Gratitude









When it rains, it pours on Oahu. When it rains, we look to the mountains if we can see them through the clouds. Hidden behind the fog are waterfalls, overflowing into streams. It is a glorious thing to behold and worth a drive on the highway just to get a glimpse. Those waterfalls are responses to the blessing of rain from above. In the same way, gratitude should be the response to the overflowing blessings in our lives. Like the rain, we may not see them clearly. But that rain is a gift. Like the mountains are shaped by the rain as it chisels through the stone of our hearts, so does God's grace teach us and shape us. The right response to God's work is gratitude: overflowing thanks for His goodness. In this way will others see His glory in our lives.


Today in church our son Jon was overcome with the idea of eternity and what it means to know God. He came to me to talk about it and said that he wanted to know what it actually means to know Christ. I shared with him this verse from Galatians 3:26, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." I shared with Jon that Jesus didn't come just to be a good teacher, but to fulfill the Law of God because we could not. None of us can achieve God's holy standard, but Jesus did. I asked Jon if he felt that he was able to obey God perfectly. He knew he had not. We all sin and fall short of what God rightly requires of us. I related this to what it feels when he works in the field with Dad, he is covered in dirt from head to toe. I then shared that God, through Christ, has taken off Jon's dirty clothes, put them on Himself, worn them on the cross and now is offering Jon His Beautiful Priestly Robes to wear instead. I explained that this is what it means to be clothed in Christ. This is what it means to know Him, to be a Christian. He understood. He wanted this clothing. Tears were flowing from his eyes. I asked him why. He felt unworthy. It had been raining. I told him that the only thing that God wanted in return was a waterfall of gratitude from Jon's life. God rained down blessing on us through the love of His Son, all He wants in return is a waterfall of gratitude.