“Thank you.” These are two words from the English language that can have profound influence on those around you. Speaking these words can bring incredible joy and fulfillment to a person’s life. Not speaking these words can possibly leave a person bitter and empty.
Consider this: Someone is trying to change lanes on the freeway but nobody is letting them in. As you approach in the lane they’re trying to get into, you put on your brakes and let them know by a wave of your hand that they can pull in front of you, which they proceed to do. Then, through their back window, you see them give a simple wave of thanks to you. There’s a satisfaction felt of not only doing a good deed, but also of doing a deed that someone else showed they were thankful for. If you go through the same scenario above but remove the wave of thanks, there may be some satisfaction felt but the level of it can diminish greatly. Generally, we highly value the thankfulness that others send our way.
Have you ever stopped to think of the satisfaction God receives when you take time to thank Him for the things He’s done for you? He’s already done so much for each of us, and will continue to do good things whether we thank Him or not. But much like us, I think God receives a high level of satisfaction when we acknowledge the good He’s done in our lives.
There is so much we can thank God for. Everything from healthy bodies to loving families to good friends to having food to eat. And even if we don’t have everything going perfect in our lives (BTW…nobody has everything going perfect) we still know that the good we have is from Him, and He will help things get better if we’ll look to Him. Of course, above all else, we can thank God for choosing to send His one and only Son to die in our place. There’s been no greater gift given than the gift of the Father sacrificing Jesus so we could have eternal life. Let’s remember to regularly express our thankfulness to God, a thankfulness that properly reflects all He’s done for us.