Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
PSALM 136:1
It is amazing how thankful we are when we first become Christians. We step out of one world and into another and suddenly everything looks great! When I first got saved, every day was an adventure with God, and I was grateful for every blessing he sent along. Most new Christians would be the same. They think, “Wow! God is awesome, the church is awesome, the music at church is awesome, and so are the people there!”
But it doesn’t seem to take long before all those things that were “awesome” lose their gloss, and cynicism and criticism set in. Why does this happen? Because we quickly forget to be thankful. If we are going to run our race and finish our course, we must keep “an attitude of gratitude” that permeates everything we do. We must ensure that we don’t become overly familiar with the goodness of God or develop a sense of familiarity or entitlement which will cause us to lose sight of the finish line. When we get off track in life, a lack of gratitude is often the root cause.
This often happens in marriage. When people first get married, they usually act as though their partner is the missing fourth member of the Trinity (especially if they were single for a long time)! But it is amazing how after only a few months, they can become a bit dissatisfied with the very person they prayed so hard for. It’s easy to go from gratitude to familiarity, and from familiarity to disappointment.
It is vital to keep nurturing that spirit of thankfulness and allow it to infuse everything we do. I’ve discovered that ongoing gratitude makes us whole and keeps our journey fresh.
You might say, “But, Chris, I’ve got nothing to be grateful for!” If you know Jesus Christ, then at the very least, you can be grateful for the fact that you’re going to heaven. If we look hard enough, we will find that there is always something we can be grateful for every day. The choice is ours.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Why is it so important to be thankful?