Your Daily Devotional for October 7, 2006

 

October 7, 2006

 

 

Our Unspoken Witness

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“O come. let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”

 

 

Psalm 95:1-2

 

 

One day a family went out to lunch at a nice restaurant. As it came time for dessert, the waitress brought their young son a bowl with a scoop of ice cream in it. As she gave it to him, he said, “Oh thank you!” She then said, ”I just love to hear it when people say thank you.” He said, “Well, bring me another bowl of ice cream and you can hear it again!”

 

It’s not common in our society to hear people say thank you. Most people expect to be served or treated nicely. Friend, we don’t deserve anything! We don’t deserve special treatment! People notice a difference in someone who is thankful! Many times a simple “thank you” is all that someone needs to know that you are different. Our gratitude can be a great tool in our witness for Christ. Yet, even as Christians we can sometimes forget to be thankful.

 

We should always be thankful for what we have. As Christians, we should be characterized by having a gratitude attitude. We are to have a grateful spirit in all that we do! As we see in our verses today, we are to come into God’s presence with thanksgiving. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name.” God wants us to be thankful to Him for all that He has done for us as we approach Him through prayer!

 

Now, it is not always easy to be thankful in everything that we do. There are times when we have bad days and the last thing we are thinking of is thanking God! God knows this and wants us to ask Him for help in thanking Him. He has provided the power we need to give thanks to Him. Being thankful is a feeling but giving thanks is a choice. Every day we must make the conscious decision to give thanks to God.

 

When you are in a difficult situation and need God’s help, He wants you to thank Him. Many times we become so worried or involved in our own problems that we forget to give thanks to God. We often wait for God to fix our problems before we thank Him, but Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

 

You will find that people love to be appreciated, and they notice when others are grateful. They notice when someone says “thank you” or is thankful for something they have done. Being thankful is a way that we can be a witness for Christ! Have you been thankful recently? When was the last time you told someone “thank you” for something they did for you? Make it a point to be more thankful to those around you today!

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