Skip to main content

What Do You Say? - by Dr. Jerry Walls

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." - Psalm 136:1

Dr. Jerry Walls used Psalm 136:1-9 in the devotion this morning but I wanted to share his thoughts that went along with that text: 

"When my children were growing up, I was constantly prompting them to do all kinds of things.  I would prompt them to open doors for people, prompt them to wash their hands and brush their teeth, and prompt them every other day to clean their rooms.  On some days, it seemed like all I was doing was prompting them. 

But more than anything else, I was constantly prompting my children to say thank you.  And I prompted them the same way every parent in the history of the world prompted their children.  When I saw they might have missed an opportunity to say thanks, I would simply remind them by saying, 'What do you say?'  When I said, 'What do you say?' my children knew this really wasn't a question.  I would have been surprised if one of them had said something like, 'It's about time' or 'See you later.'  My children knew that the answer was, 'Thank you.'  So let me ask you a question.  In light of all that God has done for you, what should you say to him today?"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worship > Fellowship

I believe that worship, true worship of God, is more important than fellowship with other believers.  Now I'm not saying that fellowship and relationships aren't important.  But I am saying that if I'm not worshiping God, if I'm not right with him, then my other relationships can't be right.  My fellowship and worship with him is more important than my relationship with my wife, my son, family, friends, my church, and my community.  Think about it.  How can I love my wife like Christ loved the church if I don't love Christ?  I wouldn't know how to love without knowing him.  Why should she submit to me if I'm not worth submitting to?  And yes I do believes wives should submit, but I also believe that won't be an issue as long as she's submitting to a godly husband.  (Ephesians 5:22-25) Our love for others must flow from our love and worship of God.  1 John 4:19-21 reads, "We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says,...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Our Tongue

"How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell." - James 3:6 When we think of fire, we may think of a small campfire to roast marshmallows, a wood stove fire that is contained, or possibly a raging inferno that is destroying a building or forest.  James here is comparing our tongue to a fire.  The sinful words that come out of our mouths have the power to destroy everything they touch, and like a fire can do so rapidly or slowly, but with dramatic effect either way.  We should also be mindful of our speech because even if it's not directly what we say, the permeating "smoke" from our speech can destroy the things around us as well.  Often times even when we are filled with good and honorable actions, our tongue can stain, or contaminate, our body throug...
Post a Comment
Read more