An attitude of gratitude. A thankful heart. Does that mean if we can make a list of “thankfuls” then we are all set? Do we just see what others don’t have and be glad that we have it? What do we give thanks for? And how do we do it? I hope this study opens up for me what true thankfulness is and that through meditating on Him, God helps me change my critical, complaining self into a gracious and thankful spirit.
8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.This first passage summarizes things nicely. We give thanks for who God is (glory in his holy name), what he has done (tell of all his wonderful acts) and what he will do (look to the Lord and his strength). We give thanks by singing to God, and telling others about his works.
9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
That is pretty straight forward, right? So from now on I will be thankful. HA!
The GMG ladies mentioned in their video post that it is about a perspective change. Thanksgiving changes our focus from being on ourselves and want we want or don’t like, to being on God and what he is about. Perspectives change slowly and with a lot of work. But they can change if we want them to. God will work in our heart – in my heart – if I want him to. But he isn’t going to force me to be thankful if I am fighting thankfulness.
So lists of “thankfuls” are a good place to start. Turning complaints into “thankfuls” helps too. But what will really be the turning point will be consciously seeing God at work in all my life. And this of course can look a million different ways, but it will only happen as I am building a relationship with Him.
How do I do that? Verse 11 jumped out at me right from the start. “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Does it remind you of Philippians 4? In the context of talking about being content in all situations, Paul says, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” By looking at (and for) God, reading what he says, listening for his voice and seeing him not as a distant entity, but as a person who love me very much, he will show me himself and the more I see of him, the more I will be like him.
That means doing this study – meditating on God’s Word as his revealed self – I am on the right path to building a thankful heart.
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