By definition, gratitude is the quality or feeling of being thankful or grateful.  It is our readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.  If you Google the word, you will find about 160 million results.  It is really “a thing” these days.  You can find journals, books, devotionals, plaques to hang on your wall, memes to post on social media, pendants to wear—- all of which are focused around the concept of gratitude. We are even more aware of it all this week, the week of Thanksgiving.

The benefits of practicing gratitude are nearly endless. It seems that everyone is practicing gratitude on a daily basis by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for.  Those who do are happier, feel more joy, sleep better, are more compassionate, are kinder to those around them, and if you are into holistic health, you know you can even have a stronger immune system with gratitude. 

Fortunately, gratitude doesn’t need to be reserved only for big occasions in our lives.  Although we are all particularly grateful after having a baby,  getting a promotion at work, or receiving that gift we’ve been dreaming of, we can also be thankful for something as simple as someone holding the door for us. In fact, we can significantly increase our overall outlook and satisfaction in life by simply keeping a gratitude journal. 

In past episodes, I’ve talked about how important it is that we be thankful in all things.  The good and the bad.  Although there are times when we struggle to fully grasp the concept of giving thanks for the troubles because some are so extreme, few will argue against the importance of being grateful or giving thanks.  The question that I think begs asking is:  Is simply being grateful really enough? 

What I mean by asking that is, do you know who you are being grateful to?  When you sit down and make a list of the wonderful people and things in your life, are you thinking about who you are thanking for all of that?  I have a lovely book called, “Finding Gratitude.”  It says it is a guided journal to help me notice the good in every day.  It is chocked full of beautiful sayings full of wisdom from some highly notable people.  As I skimmed through it in preparation for this message, it saddened me to notice that I did not find even one reference to God.  The one to whom I believe with all my heart we are grateful for all things.   

It seems to me that God is left out of so much because people are afraid of offending someone by referencing a God that people may not know or believe in.  I realize that to be politically correct, we are to be inclusive of all.  But I also feel strongly that if I don’t share the truth as found in scripture, then I’m guilty of perpetuating the lies.  To me, this is one of those storms of life I referred to in episode 24 as the drizzling rain.  It’s a storm so subtle we hardly notice it, but it can have lasting consequences if we ignore it. 

Every once in awhile I find some really great nuggets from an unlikely source:  watching tv.  Just the other night one of my favorite characters, Mike Baxter in “Last Man Standing,” made an excellent point. He said, “You should worry less about who you might offend, and more about who you might inspire!” Folks, I bring this up today, not to offend anyone by my referring to the creator of the universe, but rather to inspire you to be grateful to that very creator.  So many people give credit to the power that is greater than I or the universe itself, but why, I ask, don’t we simply acknowledge the creator of the universe rather than the created?  Why don’t we give thanks to God instead of sending gratitude to some unknown being out there?

If you believe that the universe and God are one and the same, or if you are uncertain if there even is a God, I encourage you to read the book of Job starting at verse 38.  Although I would love to, I am not going to read all of the chapters here.  But in verse 4 God starts by saying, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell me, if you know so much.  Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying?  What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstones as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst forth from the womb and as I clothed it with clouds and thick darkness?”  He goes on through the next chapters to ask many questions about the formation of our earth and gives the most poetic responses to Job, who had no answers to these questions.  God’s point in all of his questioning was if Job could not explain such common events in nature, how could he possibly explain or question God?  

I, for one, cannot even fathom how God could do all the things that make up this majestic planet we call earth, but I am grateful that I don’t need to.  The only thing I really need to know is that he loves me enough to give his son to die for my sins.  That my friends is the one thing that I literally will be eternally grateful for. 

Psalm 92:1-2, it says, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High.”  Every Thanksgiving, we think a lot about how grateful we are, but truly thanks and gratitude to God should be on our minds, our hearts, and our lips every single day.  And not just to God.  We should say thank you to our spouses, our children, our parents, friends, leaders, but especially to God. When sincere thanksgiving becomes an integral part of our day to day life, we will find that everything shifts, and our view of the world will completely change.  The transformation in our hearts will cause us to be more positive, more gracious, more loving, and more humble.   

I’m not saying that writing in your gratitude journal is wrong, not at all!  Whatever manner you feel most comfortable being grateful is wonderful.  Writing in a journal, dancing a dance of praise like David did, saying a prayer, or simply just thinking how grateful you are.  There is no right or wrong way to do it.  I’m just suggesting that you acknowledge that all we have is from God and that we give him thanks and praise. I also encourage you, like pretty much everything we do, not to get too hung up on having to do it and judging yourself if you don’t get it done a specific prescribed way every day.  Being legalistic about it just adds stress to our lives, is unnecessary, and is counterproductive.  

So can you see how our gratitude can be so much more than just being grateful?  It’s more about being grateful to the one who provides everything to us and then giving him credit for more than simply the things we can have and hold.  Yes, being grateful can be life-altering, but while you are at it, why not make sure your heart is in the right place and give thanks to the one who created you and everything you are thankful for.  Having that relationship can not only change how your days here on earth will look, but it can change how your eternity will look.

So as I leave you today, I want you to know that I give thanks to God for you, every day.  I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you and I pray that my message, nay, God’s message that is being delivered to you, is received with all the love and hope with which it is given.  If you struggle with anything I’ve shared today or an aspect of your life you would like to improve on.  I would love to visit about if there is a way that I can guide you through that or answer your questions.  Send me a message,  give me a call, or schedule a time here.  

Thank you an have a blessed Thanksgiving!