Consistent Thankfulness

Being thankful seems like such a wonderful way to live.  I love to think about times in my life when I had such a spirit of gratitude that nothing else mattered.  People who live with thankful hearts are usually a total joy to be around and know just how to lift our day.  But there is a major problem with thankfulness.  At least in my case, thankfulness can exit as easily as it entered.  A consistent thankfulness. Now that is something to explore.

First the problem.  Thankfulness is usually tied to our situational comfort.  If life is working out the way we planned, then we become thankful.  This will never lead to consistent thankfulness, because life is always changing and usually does not follow the course we set.  So we try harder.  We are told to be thankful for our blessings, and try to count them one by one.  But life gets busy and we can easily miss blessings in the midst of difficult times.   One of the biggest challenge to consistent thankfulness is our misunderstanding that God is more concerned about our comfort than our character.

Now the solution.  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.  Psalm 136.  Consistent thankfulness will only become a reality in our lives when we start giving thanks for the one thing that does not change.  The steadfast love of God.  Health comes and goes, friends come and go, wealth comes and goes, but the love of God is based on an unchanging promise.  A promise that God would create a way for people to know him and call him Father.  This steadfast love is known as “hesed” in the Hebrew, and refers to God’s unrelenting one-way love for his people.  A consistent thankfulness can only survive when based on this unchanging love.

Finally the application.  God is the giver of all good gifts so please do thank Him for these blessings.  But do not stop here or you will go back to situational thankfulness.  For at least one month, let’s all spend some time each day thanking God for offering a love that pursues us even when we are at our worst.  A love that does not change when we do.  A love that is best demonstrated and explained through the life and work of Jesus…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

Give thanks, consistently, for the steadfast love of God.

Much love,

Casey