November 21, 2005

 

…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

                                                                             --1 Thessalonians 5:18

 

I heard you may know you’re having a bad day when you call your answering service and they tell you, “It’s none of your business.” You can also know that you’re going to have a bad day when your horn goes off in traffic, sticks, and you’re behind a group of Hell’s Angels. And finally, you know you’re headed for a bad day when you sink your teeth into a luscious steak and they stay there!

 

In bad days as well as good, we’re to always praise the Lord. Thanksgiving is the first response to a bad day of someone who knows the Lord Jesus as Savior. Over and over again we are admonished perpetually to praise the Lord. The psalmist said, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

 

Jesus graciously and lovingly healed the 10 lepers who came to him. The Bible says they went away leaping and praising the Lord, but only one returned to give Him thanks (Luke 17:11-19). Has God does something in your life to bless you or pull you through a rough time and you’ve forgotten to say thanks? Everything is better when you say thanks and learn how to praise the Lord every single day.

 

When you and I think long enough about the blessings of God, our thanks wouldn’t be enough to adequately express the gratitude we’d have for God’s provision. Yet, how many of us bypass blessings every day simply because we don’t pause to say thank you? Thanksgiving is not just one special day out of the year on your calendar — it is to be every day in your life.

 

LIFE IS ALWAYS BETTER WHEN WE GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD.