Moments with God, Vol. 39
An Outflow of Praise
I love Christmas. Aside from Scrooge and the Grinch, I am sure I am not alone in this, although both characters saw the joy of Christmas by the end of their stories. I love the festivities, the decorations, and the baking, but not until after Thanksgiving Day! Yes, my preparations for Christmas do not begin until the day after Thanksgiving, because I love the festivities of this season just as much.
Thanksgiving is a reminder to me of what I need to do on a daily basis, but it is not just the reminder but my response. How do I show my thanks to God for who He is and for His daily provisions? In the past several years, music has made such an impact on how I do this. I love how David suggests we offer thanksgiving to God in Psalm 100.
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
We are called to make a joyful noise, serve the Lord with gladness, come into His presence, and enter His courts with thanksgiving and praise. Why? Because He is our Creator, and we belong to Him. He is our Shepherd, and He watches over and cares for us. He is good, so good. His unending love and faithfulness have surrounded mankind since the beginning of time and will continue throughout eternity. The reasons to come before Him with thanksgiving and praise are unending.
When you truly consider who God is and what He has done, how can you not have an air of thanksgiving about you? This air of thanksgiving often will cause an outflow of praise, leading to worship of our great God. Tony Evans describes worship in The Tony Evans Bible Commentary. “Worship is all that we are responding to all that he is. It is the recognition of God for who he is, what he has done, and what we are trusting him to do.” As we truly see God, making a joyful noise is a beautiful outflow of thanksgiving and praise. Whether our voice is a beautiful noise to those around us or not doesn’t matter. Our thanksgiving and praise are a beautiful noise to God when it comes joyfully from our hearts in response to Him.
Regardless of what is taking place in your life, know He is good. He never leaves you alone, but instead surrounds you with a greater love than anyone could ever have for you. When you enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise, regardless of what is taking place in your life, you focus on what He is doing. You see Him, and it changes you. You can respond in worship because you know who God is, what He has done, and you can trust Him for what will happen next.
For me, Thanksgiving is a reminder of what needs to take place in my life throughout the entire year as I know God more and see His work in my life. My response? Yes, I tend to sing a lot when I am on my own or I listen to the beauty of classical music, as I am reminded of the beauty of Him. Thanksgiving is also my preparation for Christmas as I focus on how thankful I am for Christ giving up His throne to humbly come to earth as a baby, taking my place on the cross. Come into His presence this Thanksgiving season with joyful song and prepare to adore Him this Christmas.
In His Love,
Susan