Lesson for the Week

Thank Him for What He Does… Praise Him for Who He Is
(07/26/10)

The other day I was laying on my bed and praying. Remembering the scripture, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise…” (Psalm 100:4, NIV), I began thanking God for all the blessings in my life. I thanked him for my daughter and my family. I thanked him for having a roof over my head and plenty to eat. I thanked him for having all my needs met. Then God placed one thought in my mind… “You didn’t praise me for who I am.” As thoughts tend to go, that one thought led to another. The first thing that came to mind was a scene from a movie (a little weird, but I digress). It was a scene where a woman asked her fiancé why he was with her. He kept answering with statements like, “You’re nice to me.”, or “You’re easy on me. You don’t make things hard.”. Her response was, “These are things that reflect the way I am with you. What is it that you like about me?” Then I thought, “Does God feel the same way as this woman? Does He want to hear us tell Him what we like about Him as opposed to just thanking Him for the things He does for us and the things He gives us?” Well, let‘s look at it from the human standpoint. I have a friend who recently had to end a relationship because the only time the other person showed an interest in her is when she got something out of it. Think about that. Would you really want to be with someone who is only around you for what you can give them? I know I don’t. This is not to say that God won’t be with us always. He promises that. But don’t you think He would like it much better if He knew we were spending time with Him not only for what He could give us, but because we love Him for who He is? We all want that confirmation from the people in our lives. And since God created us in His image, it stands to reason that He would want the same. So as I come full circle with these thoughts, I am brought back to the earlier scripture, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise…”. Praise is just as important as thanksgiving. Thank God for what He does, and praise Him for who He is. Remember, a thankful heart gets you through the door; but if you want to see the King, you better start to praise!