Psalm 106:1-2 says: “Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can shew forth all His praise?”
It’s a special week . . . a time we come together with family and reflect on what we can be thankful for. Still, with every year that passes, I sense more ads popping up, more retail stores marking sales earlier, and an inbox full of emails explaining why I need their items and promises of how it will improve my life in some way.
To be honest, it is hard to have a heart of contentment and thankfulness for the gifts God has blessed us with when we are surrounded with messages telling us we need more and would be happier if we had more.
During these times, I like to do a little heart searching. As I was thinking about this week and what it means to me, I looked up the meaning of thankful. According to Webster’s dictionary it means: “being conscious of the benefit received; an expression of thanks.”
I just started thinking of the blessings that God has poured upon me, and it just filled my heart with so much gratitude to Him — it would be almost impossible for me not to start expressing that to Him and those around me. When you are a grateful person, others will gravitate toward you because it is such an attractive quality.
Instead of making lists of what I need to buy this week while it is such a “steal of a deal,” I want to focus on everything that God has given to me. I don’t want my thoughts to be consumed with what I “need” to buy or what sale I might be missing. I want to focus on His goodness and express that to Him and others.
Be encouraged.
Erin