I never cease to be fascinated by the range of people who turn up on the Radio 4’s morning show ‘Saturday Live’. The sheer variety of the guests is simply staggering. And I have to admit I am particularly fond of the section known as ‘Heritage Tracks’ when well-known celebrities identify a song that they associate with their childhood and another they want to pass on to their children.

But all in all, I guess the ‘Thank You’ section is my favourite bit. It’s the moment when someone takes the chance to say thanks for an act of kindness they experienced in the past.

This is often a very emotional moment in the show. But I don’t think anything will ever top the conversation I heard a couple of weeks ago when a lady named Helen responded to the previous week’s edition in which she’d heard someone thanking her father for saving their life some 60 years ago.

Helen had never really known her missionary dad because he died when she was three. But she wanted everyone to know that her entire family had been deeply moved by the fact that someone wanted to say thank you after such a long time. And it had challenged her so powerfully that she had spent the whole week thanking people for all they had done for her.

I get the feeling that few of us say ‘thank you’ as much as we should. And it can be difficult sometimes, too, because we might not know who we ought to thank. Some people like to remain anonymous, which is how Jesus would prefer it.

And so I am going to take my chance right now. I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to the person or persons who dropped £20 through my front door more than 30 years ago when I was training for the Baptist ministry. I can assure you this gift was worth much more than its monetary value. It was a yet another reminder that God would keep His promise and meet our daily needs.

And then there is the unknown person who dropped a cheque for £1,000 through my door some 20 years ago with a note encouraging us to have a lovely family holiday. That was a wonderful gift because just 24 hours prior a holiday that we had been promised had been cancelled very unexpectedly, and we certainly didn’t have the money to arrange another. No one knew about this. But God did, and He clearly knew who to tap on the shoulder. He loves cheerful givers because they remind Him of Himself.

We will never be able to thank God enough for all He has given us as a family over the years. But we will never forget that He has constantly used ordinary people to bless us too.

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]