Thankfulness

Thankfulness is more than a response to someone doing something nice; thankfulness is a response to God's goodness, kindness, and mercy in your life.

Thankfulness

This week's devotions are written by my son, Bryant Forshee, Lead Student Pastor for Cross Church, Springdale, AR campus.

- Pastor Danny

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever."

(1 Chronicles 16:34, CSB)

In 2016, I was fresh out of college at Dallas Baptist University and working my first real "job" as a junior high intern at a church in North Dallas. I was excited and nervous about everything with it being my first job coming out of college. In one of the first weeks, my boss asked all the interns to lead a devotional before our staff meeting. It wasn't fancy or long; it was a small devotional to get our meeting going. This "small devotional" changed my life.

In preparation for the devo, I read this statement from Jerry Bridges on thankfulness: "Thankfulness to God is a recognition that God in His goodness and faithfulness has provided for us and cared for us, both physically and spiritually. It is a recognition that we are totally dependent upon Him; that all that we are and have comes from God." This definition of thankfulness changed my perception of what it means to be thankful. I always thought of thankfulness as a response to someone who did something nice for me or something my mom and dad always told me to say growing up when something nice happened to me. Bridges, by the power of the Holy Spirit, convicted me of my frail and small thinking about thankfulness.

Thankfulness is more than a response to someone doing something nice; thankfulness is a response to God's goodness, kindness, and mercy in your life. I love how Bridges uses "recognition" because of what that word means. Thankfulness is not passive or done casually. It should be an intentional act where you recognize that God has been good, merciful, kind, or whatever attribute of God shows up, and you want to thank Him for that.

So what about you?

When was the last time you were thankful to God?
When was the last time you intentionally thanked God for all He has given you?
When was the last time you intentionally thanked God for something other than the food on your plate?

With Thanksgiving happening just last week, this quote from Bridges was stirred up in my heart, as it always is around this time of year. I don't know about you, but I want to be someone who lives out 1 Chronicles 16:34, where I am giving thanks to the Lord! We could all agree that the Lord is so good to us in many different ways, but do we thank Him for those gifts, His goodness, His kindness, or any of those things?

If you can, take some time right now, or at least at some point today, to write a list of things you are thankful to God for, and then spend time praying and thanking God for those things!