Notes on Hope Devotional

Give Thanks

Psalm 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.

A few years ago, I was part of a writing group where we named one thing we were grateful for each day of the month. That practice has stayed with me, albeit not in a formal, writing-it-down way, but in a spiritual practice. Psalm 100 is the song of thanksgiving, inviting us to “give thanks.” 

Whether you're in a season of peace and quiet or in a storm of chaos, change, and upheaval, we can still give thanks. 

Dr. Curt Thompson, psychiatrist and author of “Anatomy of the Soul” and “The Deepest Place,” wrote in a recent email about gratitude and thanksgiving:

Scripture has long understood this. For God’s people, thanksgiving was never transactional; it was relational. Gratitude emerged as a response to a God who draws near, who knows and loves His people. When we give thanks, we participate in that same movement. Every “thank you” becomes a small turning:
•         toward God
•         toward others
•         and toward a deeper awareness that we live in a story held together by grace.

As you gather to celebrate Thanksgiving next week, may you see it as a holy practice that draws you into a deeper sense of gratitude toward God.

Dear Heavenly Father,
We give you thanks for the blessings You have given us. All we have is from You. Thank You for life, breath, and the gifts of family and friends. Above all, thank You for Your Son, Who gives us life here and life beyond this world. In Your Precious Name, Amen.