Gratitude

“We’re grateful to you for saving us.  We will never forget what you have done for us.” This is a statement very near to many today.  Consider the many in history that have made this statement.  The people of Israel, though they complained against Moses and God in the wilderness, one might argue that some may have expressed this sincere gratitude. Slaves in every part of the world, when freed by any entity would certainly say this to their rescuer.  Certainly there are recordings of freed American slaves expressing such gratitude to the work of Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman and others. Jews across Europe have thanked those, like Oskar Schindler, who helped them escape the death chambers.  From the Talmud we read, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire."  I heard a similar statement by a desperate mother to the man who would attempt to rescue her daughters from ISIS, “If you’d save all these girls, you would give us the whole world.”   We recently viewed the PBS Frontline segment, “Escaping ISIS.” A Yazidi man, who escaped ISIS was featured in his mission to rescue as many of the thousands of Yazidi women and children captured by ISIS to be bought, sold, molested, raped and killed.  With each rescue, I heard this familiar statement… “Thank you for saving me.  I will never forget what you have done for me.” I often thank God for saving me.  I do.  I had to pause when I heard this played out in front of my eyes—escape from sin, persecution, captivity, gross and barbaric mistreatment, and escape from religious tyranny.  Seeing a group of refugees crossing over a hillside still in range of ISIS gunfire, embracing fathers, brothers and mothers, from whom they had been separated months to years, hearing their cries and extreme gratitude, then encountering their savior, lawyer turned warrior, Khalil al-Dakhi, I came to a surreal moment of truth—how really grateful am I that my Jesus, my Savior, gave His life to rescue mine from this same death?  When I thank Him, is it just part of my prayer, or might I really pause and consider from whence have I been rescued?

“We’re grateful to You for saving us.  We will never forget what You have done for us!”

Coach/PJ