Psalm 103:1-5
I bless the holy name of God with all my heart. Yes, I will bless the Lord and not forget the glorious things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins. He heals me. He ransoms me from hell. He surrounds me with loving-kindness and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things! My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
In the book One Thousand Gifts*, author Ann Voskamp reminds us repeatedly of the importance of gratitude...something she calls "eucharisteo". She makes the point that it's hard to be unhappy when you are busy being grateful...that you can truly draw closer to God by taking note of the blessings all around you than by enumerating your troubles...that the real path to a deeper relationship with God comes from learning to praise Him and express appreciation - even when with every fiber of your being, you don't feel like doing so.
I started making a list of 1,000 gifts or blessings...although I will admit that I have not been as diligent as I should in noting things each day. A few years ago, I read a book called 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life**, written by John Kralik. Over the course of a year, I actually wrote and sent more than 365 "thank-you" notes. I did this as an experiment at first...inspired by this book to be more grateful - and to tell others how they had blessed me. But as I wrote the notes, I began to seek more opportunities to send them. It wasn't a burden, as in "Oh, no...it's day #125, and I don't have anyone to thank!" It was often a case of having several people who deserved a note of appreciation...and I found myself increasingly recognizing opportunities to let someone know how humbled I was by their kindness, concern, assistance, and love.
It's funny how we find it so easy to go to God with our troubles...concerns...needs and desires. But we really spend very little time telling Him how grateful we are for all He does for us. You really should go back and read all of Psalm 103. David has done a beautiful job of listing many ways in which God has blessed and cared for him. He has enumerated many of the LORD's qualities...wisdom, a sympathetic and merciful heart, tenderness, the ability to "forgive and forget", His love and steadfast faithfulness toward us and the promises that He has made.
Like the "365 days of Thank Yous"...I believe that making note (mentally and/or physically) of daily blessings could change our thinking - AND our relationship with God. As we begin to focus more on the thousands of ways that He shows up in our lives each and every minute, we will find that we have less time for sin and the things of this world. When we are busy noting the beauty of fall leaves or the laugh of a child, we don't really have time to bother with what someone said or did (or didn't do), how lonely and neglected we are, or how many burdens and problems we may be facing.
In noting the "gifts" and blessings of our day, we are reminded just how incredible and amazing God's love is for us...and how blessed we are by this. And as our relationship with Him begins to change and deepen in "eucharisteo," we can change our earthly relationships and attitudes as well. Clearly God deserves this kind of attention. And if joy and a strengthened bond with Him are the by-products, then I am all in! What about you?
©2014 Debbie Robus
* One Thousand Gifts ~ ©2010 Ann Morton Voskamp ~ One Zondervan Press ~ www.zondervan.com
** 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life ~ © 2010 John Kralik ~ Hyperion ~ All right reserved.
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