I really appreciate the wonderful sermons that Pastor Don provides us every Sunday. This past Sunday was no exception, as he spoke about making sure our light regularly shines brightly to demonstrate our love for God. That light should consistently shine brightly and be focused on our thanks to demonstrate our love for Him and to share this love with others we come in contact with in our daily walk! We need to be grateful for the goodness that He constantly provides to us, and to share that gratefulness with others around us.
Those thoughts led me to remember a message from my current devotional provided by Max Lucado. The title of that message was Saying “Thank You”. As always, Max begins with scripture:
Psalm 106:1 – Thank the Lord because He is good. His love continues forever.
Max then shares Worship is when you’re aware that what you’ve been given is far greater than what you can give. Worship is the awareness that were it not for His touch, you’d still be hobbling and hurting, bitter and broken. Worship is the half-glazed expression on the parched face of a desert pilgrim as he discovers that the oasis is not a mirage.
Worship is the “thank you” that refuses to be silenced.
We have tried to make a science out of worship. We can’t do that. We can’t do that any more than we can “sell love” or “negotiate peace”.
Worship is a voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior, by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer.
Being able to live a life of constant gratitude for all God has done for us allows us to share that gratitude with others. We need to strive to do this as a constant attitude and resulting behavior in our lives, and not only on our good days. Instead, we need to wake up each morning thanking God for all He has done for us yesterday, last month, last year, and for our entire lives on this earth. We should then share this gift with all those with whom we come in contact, and not harass or criticize those who may not live up to the expectations we may have when we interact with others either in person or on the telephone or while driving in our cars.
We should be living our lives in a constant state of worship and thankfulness, realizing the truth at the beginning of Max’s message – Worship is when you’re aware that what you’ve been given is far greater than what you can give! I pray that I will develop and maintain an appropriate attitude of thankfulness, and that I will share with others an appropriate, focused, and bright light of thankfulness for You every day!