Hymn of Thanksgiving

I give thanks to you O God,
for when we are inadequate you are more than enough
when we are too tired to think we can feast on your infinite wisdom
when we are weak you reveal your strength
when we have no words you fill the silence

You are a God who is endlessly joyful yet shares in our sorrows

I give thanks to you O God,
for when we feel alone you teach us true fellowship
when we are proud your greatness makes us humble
when we don't know how we are to live you lead by example
when we fall short in praising you, you glorify your name

You are a god who is infinite yet chose to take on the finite form of man.

You bring us to others who delight in you
you made the sky and leaves and shadows and all colors
you gave us minds which can think and glimpse your glory and delight
You are a God who gives us ridiculously good gifts.

I give thanks to you O God.

Life-giving Water

Recently, perhaps because of what I've been reading and perhaps because I'm trying to find a church to become a part of, I have been a little more thoughtful than usual as I listen to different sermons. One thing has struck me on multiple occasions.

Different speakers have enthusiastically and thankfully stated how great it is that God has brought us salvation through the death of Jesus Christ. It is the wonder expressed in the following passage:

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5)

But that is not the end, nor even the beginning of what God has done! This is not a simple payment that meets the requirements of a just God. If that was true, why did Jesus have to live at all? Couldn't he have been born and then immediately sacrificed? And what about the resurrection? It seems to me that Jesus' ongoing life is not just something we notice at Easter, but something that overshadows and impacts every part of our faith and life!

Even the passage above includes this fact, especially put in context:

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. " (Ephesians 2:4-7)

We have gone from death to life - life in the present and future! Jesus did not come only to die, nor does God expect us to live our lives only in some distant future hope. There is so much more I could get excited about here - about how Jesus can "sympathize with our weaknesses" (Heb 4:15) and about how he has conquered death. Instead I will simply close with a few statements that Jesus said, as recorded in the gospel of John.

"The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (4:14)

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (6:35)

"The words I have spoken to you - they are full of the Spirit and life." (6:63)

On the last and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them" (7:37-38)

A man in traditional garb (mostly for the tourists now!) sells water to the passerby in Marrakesh, Morocco. He rings a bell to alert everyone to his presence.