Psalm 107:1 / Give Thanks unto the Lord.......
Seems to me that the act of giving thanks has to be based on a person's life and their view of God. Not all thanks comes from a happy place. Not all thanks comes from a place where rainbows are rampant and unicorns are not unusual. Sometime thanks wells up when the day's are darkest. When the pain is at its peak. When you feel the most alone. Those are the times we need to shake off the grave clothes of this world, lift our arms to heaven, and with a shout that comes from deep within cry out "Thank You Lord!"
Our gratitude should not be based on the state of our life. By that, I mean the material situations we find ourselves in. Plenty of money.....good health.....great relationships....nice house to live in.......a great job...and on and on and on. Such is not the basis for the kind of Thanks I am talking about. Nothing wrong with having a comfortable life. But sometimes this comfort becomes more important and stands in the way of our relationship with God. We sometimes use our state in life to view ourselves as being "alright" in the eyes of God. Truth be known, as I've heard it stated before..."I am a great sinner...and He is a Great Savior." Everything else is just gravy.
Let gratitude and thanks be the compass point you look to today as you pray. Don't let the dark voices of this world lull you into grumbling and complaining about your life. Find one thing that you can look to God and say, "Thank you Father!".
If you continue on in Psalm 107, the rest of verse one gives an explanation as to why we should give thanks. "For He is good; His love endures forever." This doesn't mean that His actions toward us are good (we know they are)...but that He IS good. He created the act of goodness. He defined what it means to be good. He IS good. Present tense, right now kind of God. Sure am glad it doesn't say, "He WAS good." or He WILL be good."
His love endures forever! Endures means to outlast. Outlast what? Anything that comes against Him. Any theology...any ideology...any political view that seeks to overthrow the very idea of God. His love is forever and amen. Here again, as we are called to give thanks, we must know why we are giving thanks. What is in our hearts that lift us to this point where we need to verbally communicate our feeling and fears to this God who loves unconditionally and without fail. One of most favorite saying comes from a good friend of mine. She was teaching on the love of God and made the following statement. "God loves us just the way we are....but He loves us so much He does not want us to remain in this state." His love to us is the fuel that moves us forward in life.
So on this Tuesday morning...why not start you day off with a big ol' Thank You Lord!"
God on you...
michael b
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