But as someone who has every reason to overflow with thanksgiving, here are a few of your gifts for which I give you praise this morning. First and foremost, I praise you for being the changeless Father of heavenly lights, as opposed to being the impetuous god of shifting shadows. I cannot predict you. I cannot control you. I cannot presume on your ways. But I can completely trust you to be impassible (without mood swings), yet passionately good and faithful.
I know this through Jesus, who is the same “yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13: 8). I’m also thankful that twice you’ve chosen to give me birth. I can claim responsibility for neither the first time I breathed in oxygen nor the second time you breathed the life of Jesus into my spirit, giving me the new birth.
And I’m also thankful for all kinds of gifts you bestow—perfect ones and otherwise. Most recently, I’d include these: the watermelon I ate yesterday that was sweeter, crunchier, and more refreshing than any I’ve ever tasted in my life; the call from a friend that came at the perfect time with the perfect life-giving rebuke; the color blue with its many hues; the understanding look my husband gave me yesterday; the assurance that you will finish making me like Jesus one day; and the hope (many hopes) of the new heaven and new earth. Father, these are just a few of the many, many gifts that come down from you all the time. What do I have that I have not received from you? Nothing. What gift have you given me that you don’t intend me to enjoy? None. How can I live as a “kind of firstfruits of all you’ve created”? Show me! I pray in Jesus’ most glorious name. Amen.