The Joy of Giving

Psalm 116:12 How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

Psalm 116 brings us words of thanksgiving for God's great deliverance. Who our psalmist is or what occasioned the gift from God, we do not know. But the question of how the psalmist can repay God is our question also. How can we possibly repay God for all his gifts.The simple answer is, we can't. Our psalmist performed all the rituals of gratitude known at the time. But it wasn't enough. We can glorify his name, be faithful in our church attendance, write large checks, all practices that need to be continued, but we are still an infinity away from equalling what he has done for us.

What else can we do? Fortunately the Bible is filled with advise. In Romans 12:1 Paul pleads with the followers of Christ to become a living sacrifice. The Gaithers sing a wonderful song written by Dwight Liles. "Make my life a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to you."

Can we do that? ...sacrifice our living bodies to God, turn over our feet to God to walk as Jesus would walk, turn over our hands to God to be made servant hands, busy doing things for others, turn over our tongues to God so that our words will be helpful and healing. "Take my life a living sacrifice, knowing it's the least that I can do."

~ Cherilyne Stark