Psalm 100:4 – Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
I remember Psalm 100 being the very first chapter of Scripture that I ever memorized in full. It is as indelibly written on my heart as is the song “Jesus Loves Me.”
I have an incredible legacy of love for the Lord and love for His Word. Not of my own choosing, but due to the wisdom of those who taught me – my parents, Pastor, Sunday School teachers, school teachers, junior church workers and youth pastors.
So many people poured into me the Word of God, the appreciation of God’s goodness and salvation, and the importance of obedience and thanksgiving.
But if I’m honest, thanksgiving has not always been a way of life for me. There are too many years that were marked by selfishness, anger, bitterness and resentment. Those emotions do not cohabitate with gratitude. They tend to push it aside and actually erase it from the heart and mind.
But as soon as we choose to begin being thankful, God starts erasing those other emotions and starts to show us even more reasons to thank Him.
Today marks 59 years of life on this earth for me. I believe that I can say that thankfulness and gratitude play a much larger role in my heart than they used to. I trust that thanksgiving has become my way of life.
I try to make my first and last thoughts each day those of thanks to the Lord. He has been SO good to me! I can never repay that. I can never serve Him enough to make it up to Him. I could never have deserved His grace and mercy.
But I can come before Him every day with thanksgiving, praise, thankfulness and blessing.
Psalm 100:5 – “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Obtaining Mercy 