“Enter
into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts
with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His
truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5)
Are you thankful? When you think
of the Lord in relation to the circumstances of your
life, are you drawn to thank Him for what He has done?
It’s difficult for us because we usually DON’T take
Jesus’ advice that we should NOT “lay
up… treasures on earth...”
but instead “lay up…
treasures in heaven”
(Matthew 6:19-20). We often look in all the wrong
places for that which is valuable. “The
Lord is good” as in our Scripture for today and “His
mercy is (indeed)
everlasting.” His utter love for you is the only
real value in life.
Decades ago, a song called “Don’t
Sleep in the Subway” was made popular by Frank
Sinatra and others of the time. The idea was that the
singer and his beloved had an argument and she walked
out. The singer observed, “You
walk out on me when we disagree,” and he is
encouraging her to “forget
your foolish pride” and come home!
The song is interesting because you
can tell that the singer is very fond of her. He’s
concerned, but also amused by this strange tendency to
walk out when things aren’t going well. It continues, “Don’t
sleep in the subway, darling, don’t stand in the pouring
rain…”
People are often like that in
relation to God. He offers us unending love, but we
walk out on Him – daily! We like it when things are
good, but often decide life is NOT good when troubles
come. We might thank Him at mealtime, but not for
everything else. It’s interesting that we’re often NOT
thankful when our bodies are healthy, and get annoyed at
Him when we’re sick. It’s like we’re outside in the “pouring
rain” of life when we should enter into His
love. He is doing a careful work in our lives for our
good, and He really means these words: “In
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In
the perspective of eternity, these may be our words:
“Oh, I should have THANKED Him!” And it’s time to do
just that.
The Psalmist, the one who wrote our
Scripture for today, really understood something that
ALL of us need: God is with us at ALL times, gently and
lovingly allowing us to enter circumstances for which we
should THANK Him. What we want and what we need are
often not the same, which is why we sometimes THINK our
prayers are not answered. The fact is, 100% of our
needs are always met, an idea that is reflected in 1
John 5:14-15 – “This is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything
according to His WILL, He hears us. And if we know that
He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him.” He knows
what’s RIGHT for YOU. He’s giving you MORE good than
you can ask or think, and it’s time to THANK the Lord!
The Holy Spirit is continually
whispering to our hearts: “Ask
Him (the Father) for more faith… Ask Him for the courage
to forgive the one who hurt you… Ask Him to show you HIS
will for your life…” and so on. We are more
inclined to ask for something like a new car, a job that
pays better, or to win the lottery. Authentic prayers
are those prompted in us by the Holy Spirit, the ones
that reflect real needs, deep inside. Most of our
requests are superficial and He is the Good Parent who
does not give in to our every whim.
So why should you thank Him?
Because He has answered ALL of your prayers, the ones
you should have uttered when you awoke in the night and
at all other times. He knows what you NEED and it is
reasonable to thank Him.
You might be in the hospital or in
a wheelchair for HIS purposes. There may be a REASON
why your child had that illness. There may be eternal
GOOD in your job loss or in the closing of your
business. That difficulty in marriage or in a
relationship has a positive outcome that you may never
perceive in this life. The troubles you have are
sometimes not even about you, but instead He may be
inviting you into His creative purposes in the lives of
other people. After all, who is a cancer patient going
to listen to? – Another cancer patient! Your trouble
may be a call from God that will have great benefit in
the lives of others. Thank Him – in everything!
Thank Him because He loves you. He
not only looks out for all of your needs, but He also
understands that You are utterly UNABLE to respond to
Him or follow Him in your own strength. “When
we were still without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). In and of
ourselves we have neither the strength nor the will to
serve Him. We are “ungodly”
in His sight. “But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans
5:8). Thank Him for His grace.
There was a point, and perhaps you
were so young that you do not remember – There was a
time when you did not CARE about God. “While
we were still sinners,” means that when we didn’t
care or think about Him at all, He was already showering
His love upon us by dying for our sins. Do you remember
such a time in your life when you did not care? Perhaps
yes or possibly you don’t – I DO remember such a point
in time. Possibly you still don’t care. God remembers
when every ONE of us felt that way. Yet He loves us and
even died for us, when we had (or have) no use for Him
at all. – Thank Him for His love.
Edgar A. Guest wrote: “I’d
rather see a sermon than to hear one any day, I’d rather
one should walk with me than merely tell the way…
I can watch your hands in
action, but your tongue too fast may run…
I’d rather get my lessons by
observing what you do…
Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I
say I’d rather see a sermon than to hear one any day…”
Jesus IS our sermon. Look to Him and you will see that
God loves you.
Whether you have chosen to trust in
the Lord or not, He is doing a work in and around you
that will last – forever. His great purpose is to bring
you into eternity in fellowship with His Son. He also
is using your life to help others do the same, whether
you personally have faith in God or not. You have a
function and it is a good one, which is a sufficient
reason to thank Him. Like the song says, “Don’t
walk in the falling rain…” Come home to your God
and “Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving” – today. Let’s pray:
Father, help me to see that it’s
even better to trust You than to understand. Bring me
home. Let me have FAITH in Your Son. THANK You, Lord.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
