Wisdom the bible says is the principal thing and in all our getting we should get understanding. If you know someone well enough, you will understand them and what makes them tick. It is possible to know God intimately, because He has revealed Himself to us through His Word and His creation.
God highly esteems ‘Thankfulness’. He sees it as an honour thing. Ps 50:23 23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honour me, and to the blameless[a] I will show my salvation.”
He said those who honour Him, He will honour and those who treat Him with levity, He will lightly esteem too. But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30.
Yesterday, I treated the meaning of thankfulness and briefly looked at what the opposite of thankfulness is. I also began to share my understanding from God’s word on how to develop thankfulness. I mentioned that the first step to developing thankfulness is to LOOK-UP. In this I explained that looking at God and seeing Him for who He is, will get us into the state of thankfulness. Today, I want to show us one more way to develop thankfulness. (I have developed at least five ways, and all involve looking).
Today, we will examine “Look Back”.
It is important to look back over one’s life and track and trace the hand of God over the course of your life. Look at where you started? Look at where you are today. Look at how far God has brought you. Look at your development. Look at your near misses and even more importantly, the times when you were totally down and out, and God came to your rescue. Think back at the way you were before Christ saved you. Think about what your trajectory would have been without this timely and incredible intervention of God. I am so grateful that Jesus saved me. My trajectory was bad. I was heading for ruins and destruction. But Jesus saved me and gave me a totally new trajectory. I am so grateful. What has God done for you? List them.
Write them and recall them. As the Psalmist said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Psalm 103:1-2.
Also consider the admonition of this special hymn
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
Go ahead today and count your many blessings, name them one by one, see what God has done and I tell you dear brother, dear sister, your heart will overflow in thankfulness. But it does not stop there!
By being thankful, you are honouring God and He will show you, His salvation. God never stops giving.
Let Us Pray: Father God, thank you so much for all You have done for me. Thank you for where You have brought me from. Thank you for Your care and attention. Your provision and most of all Your salvation in my life. Please grant me the grace to always have a heart of thankfulness as I reflect on Your faithfulness in my life. In Jesus name I have prayed. Amen.