How Can You Repay the Lord?
When you have any real awareness of what God has done for you, you are left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. What do you have that is not His? Your ability to perceive, and your capacity to think and feel come from Him. Your awareness of and longing for eternity are His design within you.
The psalmist writes, “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord, in the presence of all His people.” (Psalm 116:12-13) You can repay Him by receiving Him. Receive His goodness. Receive Him and His ways as the definition of goodness. Receive His good provisions and direction for your life.
Take hold of His salvation. God has done for you what you could never do. He has brought you forgiveness. He has paid for what you have done. He has cleared your account – and He is willing to receive you forever. Take hold of His salvation – there is nothing like it. Nowhere else can you find such unconditional love and unmerited favor. He loves you no matter what! He loves you, knowing not only who you have been, but who you are and who you will be. He loves the you that no one even knows. Take hold of His salvation, healing and wholeness.
Learn to call on His name. Learn to be a person of prayer – who actually engages God and calls the things of heaven into the earth. Learn to rely upon His fresh provisions and directions, to rely on His power and intervention. One of the most powerful ways to express faith and worship is to call on the Lord. It is to believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek and call and rely upon Him.
How can you repay the Lord for His great love and work for you? You can follow through with the things that you know He wants in your life. Do them – complete them – embrace the process – and do it all with your all, with thankfulness and in joy. This is the most fulfilling kind of lifestyle on the planet. And, it can only truly be accessed by those who know and are grateful to the Lord. Real life – real Christian life – flows from thanks; it’s not a matter of earning or deserving, but an overflow of thanks for what Jesus has done for us!
Thankfully with you,
Pastor Tom
tgriffith@rolcboston.org
