"How Can I Ever Thank You Enough?"

I was enjoying our family night together last night, and something came to me. It's something that I have spoken on before, and actually, we covered a very similar point just last week while going through I John 5.

My schedule is packed during the entire week, so Thursday nights are a precious bastions of peace and family time. We take turns each week going through each member of the family choosing an activity and a dinner meal. Last night it was Cutter's turn and so the evening had Tony's pizza and the Wizard of Oz on the schedule. Both the Tony's and the Oz are big favorites of mine and so we settled in for a comfortable traditional pizza and a movie scenario with the fireplace tickling us with its radiant heat.

Discussion during any family movie is always interesting, and this one was no different. We each have favorite parts and we still debate whether or not the flying monkey scene is really that scary. Of course the older you get the less scary they seem, and I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Seems to be an indicator of innocence lost perhaps, but that's a topic for another day.

In any case the movie roll son, and we near the end. We get to the scene shortly after the melting of the wicked witch, and all the characters are gathered in the court of the wizard. All of the sudden the deception of the wizard is exposed by the meddling dog Toto, and the wizard has to confess he has no power. But, as we all know, to make up for his lack or real power the wizard gifts each member of the party with something special. In the case of the scarecrow, he gives him an honorary diploma. He therefore carries with him a Doctorate of 'Thinkology' that apparently makes him an expert in geometry.

As the scene carries on, the scarecrow looks at the wizard and says, "How can I ever thank you enough?" The wizard replies with, "Well you can't." If we have a heart to see and hear God, we might find him anywhere. Even in this scene in the classic Wizard of Oz.

The metaphor I want to use here has to stop at comparing God to the Wizard of Oz. God has real power, and the Wizard did not. However, they both have a benevolent heart, and the Wizard, like our Father in Heaven wants us to do exceedingly well.

The Wizard gave the scarecrow what he needed to succeed. He did not physically give the scarecrow a brain, but he did give him the desire to make use of the tools he had already been given. The Wizard was the inspiration behind the scarecrow's motivation.

In a similar fashion, God works in our lives. He has the power to instantly give us whatever we might want or need, before we even know we need it, or have the desire for it. But, He wants us to seek Him, have communion with Him, and make our requests known to Him. He desires that He is the inspiration behind our motivation and that because our hearts are renewed daily by Him, that we desire to become more Christ like.

For this reason alone we need to be seeking god in all things, all the time. What made me think of the Lord in this case is that I do have a debt I cannot repay. I, in spite of a sinful life as a fallen human being, in spite of outwardly and inwardly rejecting Jesus for years in my life, in spite of treating people poorly and making a mockery of God and His love for me, He willingly died for me, and simply waited patiently for me to come to Him. Jesus sacrificed Himself in such a horrible way just so that if I did come, He could say He loved me and that ALL was forgiven.

If Jesus stood before me right now, and I were to say, "How can I ever thank You enough?" He could rightly say, "Well you can't." How can you ever thank someone for such a showing of Grace? How can you ever thank someone for giving up all they have, just to give you a chance at a priceless gift? How can you ever rightly thank someone from taking you out of the depths of misery and into position to become the son of the King? Well you can't... sort of.

You cannot thank enough for such a gift. I life cannot be paid for with money or thanks. But you sure can try to live what life you have left in such a way that everything you do brings glory and honor to the gift-giver. That's how we say thanks.

Thank you Jesus for doing what you have done. And I thank you for being in all things, and that when we have a heart for you we can find you just about everywhere. I am most thankful that you are here with me, now, right here, and that I can whisper 'thank you' in a small voice back to you any time or any place and know that you hear.