Thank the Maker!

There's a line from the Star Wars movie (the original one) where the robot, C3P0, takes an oil bath - and as he sinks down into the warm liquid he exclaims, "Thank the maker!"

The scene only takes 5 seconds or so, but I remember thinking how rare it was to hear anyone be grateful to our Maker for such a little thing as getting clean, or having a need met.

Yesterday the whole family went to see my mom. She has a hummingbird feeder hanging from one of the eaves of her house, next to her living room window. My oldest daughter was outside at one point and happened to see a hummingbird zip in from a nearby tree, hover in front of the feeder for a few minutes, and whir out of there just as quickly as it came.

Moments like that sometimes get taken for granted. But it was special to her because she doesn't often see hummingbirds on our property.

She was thankful to have seen it, to enjoy the wonder of one of God's most amazing creations. A simple pleasure - sparking gratitude. What a concept.

How much more we have to be grateful for than simply the wonders of nature, as majestic as they are! How easy it is for us to become blasé about the miracle we walk in every day, the forgiveness of sins, the right standing we now have with God because of what Jesus did on the cross ... and let's not forget the empty tomb - and that blessed hope: the promise of His coming!!

I think it was a monk named Brother Lawrence who decided, after much meditation and prayer, to "practice the presence of God." He decided that whatever he was, in everything he did, that it would be God's. He discovered the secret that nature itself teaches us: being precedes doing.

This one thing transformed his life and gave him instant access to supernatural power to live a holier life from the inside out, not from religious rituals and rules. He put this into practice by praying before, during and after each task he did. In doing so, everything he was, everything he did became an act of worship. Even if we could remind ourselves to pray on the hour - some of us have chimes on our watches - I suspect we would become more aware of the constant presence of God with us.

Brother Lawrence's life was filled with menial tasks. His contribution to spiritual life was unnoticed during his lifetime, but someone found his diaries and started putting those together along with the letters he wrote to people. The letters were donated by those whose lives had been changed by their association with Brother Lawrence. We know through these writings that his whole life became one long, uninterrupted prayer of devotion - just like Keith Green wrote about in his song, "No Compromise."

Here are the lyrics -

Make my life a prayer to You; I wanna do what You want me to -
No empty words and no white lies; No token prayers, no compromise!
I wanna shine the light You gave through Your Son You sent to save us
From ourselves in our despair - It comforts me to know You're really there!

I wanna thank You now for being patient with me
Oh it's so hard to see, when my eyes are on me!
I guess I'll have to trust and just believe what You say,
Oh You're coming again, coming to take me away.....

I wanna die and let You give Your life to me so I might live,
And share the hope You gave to me - the love that set me free -
I wanna tell the world out there, You're not some fable or fairy tale
That I made up inside my head! You're God the Son - You've risen from the dead!
I wanna thank You now for being patient with me
Oh it's so hard to see, when my eyes are on me!
I guess I'll have to trust and just believe what You say,
Oh You're coming again, coming to take me away.....
I wanna die and let You give Your life to me so I might live,
And share the hope You gave to me - I wanna share the love that set me free!

(c) 1978

Where would that kind of passion, that kind of dedication come from - if not from a deep and profound gratitude and a conscious continual contact with God?

How many of the world's objections to Christianity would be silenced if we all (including me) lived like this?

And it all starts with three words -
Thank You, Jesus!