Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever” (NLT) Psalm 136:1-3
Do you struggle to find a reason to thank God? Is thanking God something you do voluntarily or it needs to be coerced out of you? Every Sunday at church, I see a bunch of worshippers whose demeanor and attitude to worship does not reflect people whose hearts are replete with thanksgiving. There is no joy in their singing; they are just there to go through the motions.
I believe one of the reasons why God found David a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) was David's attitude of praise. At the slightest opportunity, even in his darkest hour, David found a reason to be thankful to God. So what is your excuse? Oh yes, it is true that your most cherished heart desires did not come to fruition. Yes, you wanted to get married, go back to school, get a promotion, have a successful business, crossover to 2017 with your loved ones, and a host of others. But just think about this: What if you died? Have you thought of that? The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:4 that a live dog is better than a dead lion.
Would you have preferred that God had given you all your heart desires in exchange for your life? Don’t you realize that one of the goodness of the Lord is to deny us of some things? He loves us so much to give to us something that will destroy us perpetually. As the year tapers to an end, let us put on our reflective cap and start counting our blessings one by one. Trust me, we will drown in the sea of God’s goodness.