How You Ought to Thank Your Heavenly King!

About a dozen years ago President Nelson spoke on gratitude in general conference and related this: “Recently, Sister Nelson and I enjoyed the beauty of tropical fish in a small private aquarium. Fish with vivid colors and of a variety of shapes and sizes darted back and forth. I asked the attendant nearby, ‘Who provides food for these beautiful fish?’ She responded, ‘I do.’ Then I asked, ‘Have they ever thanked you?’ She replied, ‘Not yet!’ I thought of some people I know who are just as oblivious to their Creator and their true ‘bread of life.’ They live from day to day without an awareness of God and His goodness unto them.” I thought of these words as I read King Benjamin’s plea to his people, “O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!” He continued, “I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants” (Mosiah 2:19-21). As a parent now, I comprehend this better. Understanding how much my wife and I do for our children—from diapers to dinners to driving and a million other acts of service—it is clear that our children will never be able to repay us for what we have done for them. Similarly, I realize now that I will never be able to repay my parents for all they did for me growing up—you simply can’t count the time given or money spent or tears shed or pain endured or service rendered to raise me and my siblings. And so, it must be for our Father in Heaven; we fail to see the infinite ways He has loved and blessed us, and we will never repay Him. It is impossible.

                President Nelson, like King Benjamin, encouraged us to see some of the things that the Lord has done for us and to thank Him. He said, “How much better it would be if all could be more aware of God’s providence and love and express that gratitude to Him. Ammon taught, ‘Let us give thanks to [God], for he doth work righteousness forever.’ Our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for Him.” He listed some of the incredible gifts that God has given us: “Think of our physical sustenance. It is truly heaven-sent. The necessities of air, food, and water all come to us as gifts from a loving Heavenly Father. The earth was created to support our brief sojourn in mortality. We were born with a capacity to grow, love, marry, and form families…. For the Atonement of the Lord and His gift of resurrection—for this sublime message of Easter—thanks be to God!... Think of His gift to you of your own physical body…. Each organ of your body is a wondrous gift from God…. Because of [the Bible and Book of Mormon] and other precious scriptures, we know that God is our Eternal Father and that His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer. For these spiritual gifts, thanks be to God!... Each day, ours is the challenge to access the power of the Atonement so that we can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of exaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families. For these powers, privileges, and gospel gifts, thanks be to God!” Jacob summed it up well, “O how great the goodness of our God” (2 Nephi 9:20). If we would open our eyes, we would see the endless blessings He has surrounded us with. Unfortunately, most of go through life like those fish, oblivious to all that the Lord has provided for us. This is easy to see as parents when, for example, a child protests that there is nothing to eat when there is refrigerator full of food and a fresh meal on the table. And so, we must not fall into the same trap, failing to open our eyes and see around us all that the Lord had given us, from the stars at night to the air that we breathe and experiences for learning He gives us every day. Let us follow this powerful invitation from King Benjamin: “Open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view” (Mosiah 2:9). Let us thank Him and show our love for Him as we seek to keep His commandments and remember Him in all that we see around us. And as parents, we hope that someday our children might at least look back with a little gratitude at what we have tried to do for them and say thank you. So, Mom and Dad, thank you!