Like many Americans, I used to spendΒ SundayΒ evenings watchingΒ 60 Minutes. My favorite part came near the end of each weekβs show, when Andy Rooney would voice his complaints and opinions about things. Since his complaints were often aimed at new things, I figured he was just a crotchety old man who didnβt like change. Now that Iβm about the age that he was then, Iβm finding that Iβm not so crazy about change myself, and there is one societal change that I find particularly vexing.
When I was a boy, I was taught that if someone says βthank you,β the polite way to respond is to say, βYouβre welcome.β In recent years I have noticed that βyouβre welcomeβ has been replaced by βno problem,β or βnot a problem.β Iβm not sure why this vexes me, but in true Andy Rooney-like fashion, it does!
Maybe it is because, if we think it through, this response isnβt nearly as good. Saying βyouβre welcomeβ after a kindness means that the person who did you the kindness feels that you are a good person who is welcome to such kind treatment. βNo problemβ just says, βBeing kind to you didnβt inconvenience me;β it says nothing of your worthiness to be treated so well.
If God were speaking aloud these days, one wonders how He would respond when we thank Him for all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ (Eph. 1:3). I doubt He would say, βNo problem, being kind to you didnβt inconvenience Me,β for the price He paid at Calvary to procure these blessings was too high. We feel He would rather respond to our thanks with, βYou are welcome to such blessings.β Of course, we are not worthy of these blessings because we are good people in ourselves, but rather because of who He has made us in Christ. As difficult as it is for humble Christians to accept, now that we are children of God, we are welcome to the same treatment from God that He gives His own Son. As Paul put it, we are βjoint-heirs with Christβ (Rom. 8:17), and so βhow shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?β (Rom.Β 8:32).
Remember every day to thank God for all that He has done for you in Christ. Anyone can thank Him for βlife, and breath, and all thingsβ of that nature, for these βHe giveth to allβ (ActsΒ 17:25). Only the child of God can thank Him for βall spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.β If we donβt thank Him for these things, who will? source
