What do the following words have in common? Dankie, faleminderit, merci, chokrane, saha, chnorakaloutioun, eskerrik asko, hvala, blagoudaria, gracies, salamat, sunsalamat, zikomo, grazie, tak, tashakor, dankon, vinaka, kiitos, merci, dankewol mahalo, toda, dhanvavad, takk, taiku, tanemirt, akun, murakoze, sobodi, tenki, spas, aciu, blagodaram, paldies, dhanvavadaqalu, mesi, asbhar?
These forty words are forty different ways to say “Thank you” around the world. The list could be expanded, but the point I want to make is that because of you, people around the world will be thanking God for your generous gifts last Sunday. God deserves all the glory for what happened this past Sunday, and the glory will extend into eternity. The money you gave could have been spent in many ways, but those “purchases” will be destroyed with the return of the Lord.
We probably don’t meditate on the practical application of the words of Jesus. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19-20). If what I earn is devoted to accumulating things that wear out, rust, or can be stolen, I have not listened to Jesus. So many gave so liberally last Sunday and their sacrifices were treasures laid up in heaven. Think about your own life as you read these words.
I am not sure what will happen on that final day, but my soul feasts on the thought that standing beside me will be someone from a distant place who was taught by missionaries we support, or learned the truth from a Bible course mailed out from Palm Beach Lakes, or whose faith was built by literature we printed or who learned the truth via the internet we support. I imagine what it will be like for that person to turn to me and express his gratitude in whatever language he knew. I imagine what it will be like to feel his embrace when he says, “Thank you, if it were not for you I would not be entering heaven. You are the reason my family became Christians!”
Palm Beach Lakes is such a special place. The compassion and love means so much. Thank you, dankie, faleminderit, merci, chokrane, saha, etc., etc., etc.!