Living with Gratitude to God

By Words of Hope, Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Read: Psalm 100

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. (v. 4)

What motivates you to worship the Lord? For some, worship is motivated by guilt, duty, what others will think, or an effort to earn God's blessing. The Scriptures teach us that our greatest motivation for worship should be gratitude. We can all enter into worship with thanksgiving because we have all been blessed by God.

It always strikes me how ungrateful the Israelites were despite the tremendous deliverance God provided. In the book of Exodus, we find God punishing the Egyptians while sparing the Israelites. He brought his people out of slavery, only to hear them grumble, complain, and even express a desire to return to slavery. He led them into the promised land, only to watch them worship other gods. They had so much to be thankful for, yet often neglected to show gratitude to God.

In light of God's rich grace, most powerfully revealed through the gift of Jesus Christ, are we people who live with gratitude or complaint? Given what God has done for you, ask yourself whether you have more reason to complain, or to worship.

Prayer: Gracious God, help me to worship you with a spirit of gratitude in light of all that you have done for me. Amen.

Used with Permission