Dear Family

I am so glad that our Heavenly Father sees us as complete in Christ. Whilst we are on a journey of being conformed to His image, we are, from His perspective, a perfected item waiting to happen. It’s like the concept of “back to the future”. We have not yet arrived but we are already there. Confused? Me too! Which is why I love what the psalmist says in Psalm 116:13: “I will take up the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the LORD.” The psalmist says this in response to his question as to how he could ever repay the LORD, the incredible God who saved him from the “chords of death” and the “anguish of the grave”. (Psalm 116:5). He has decided that the very best way to “repay” what God has done, is to declare God’s salvation boldly and unashamedly call upon His name.

The Bible is full of injunctions to offer to the LORD a sacrifice of praise. The words of our mouths, as reflections of our hearts in love with Him, are a pleasing aroma to God. We cannot be silent when we consider all that He has done, past, present and future. We deserved nothing, He gave us everything, and now we need to praise.

It is a strong indictment against our level of maturity when we find ourselves only able to praise Him when things are going well. A little child will struggle to see a bigger picture when a parent removes their toy from them because it’s bath and feed time. Whilst they have the toy and are playing with it, the world is bright and full of life. But take it away and everything becomes instant tantrum material. We are so often like this. When the weather is good, there is money in the bank, our children are behaving and our health is great, it is easy to praise the LORD. But when things are not looking too rosy, we struggle. Why? Well, quite simply because we need to grow up in Him and to realize that He does not leave us when things go wrong. In actual fact, maybe things have gone wrong for a specific purpose known only to Him. Maybe that toy is bad for us. Maybe it’s bath and feed time. But whatever it is, He is still there, working everything out for our good. He sees the end picture and knows what it will take to get me there.

So, as we journey with Him, let us leave the details to Him, take up the cup of salvation, and call upon His name.