Psalm 116:17 – I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
We’ve talked a few times already about this “sacrifice of thanksgiving.” It was a sacrifice that was not required. It was to be offered freely, whenever a person wanted to express their thanks to God.
As many times as the Psalmist has told us to give God praise and thanks, the Lord wants it to be our own idea. True thanksgiving isn’t prompted. It should well up from our own mind and heart in an unstoppable gush.
The fact that we have a brain/mind that can consider our blessings and choose to thank the Lord is in itself another reason to praise Him!
Our mental abilities are incredible blessings. Our personality, creativity, work ethic, logic are all gifts from the Lord. While they may be nurtured by those around us, the ability of our brain to do so is from His hand. Our mind is just as much of a gift as are salvation and a comfy bed!
I know there are times when we are not very impressed with our mental acuity. I remember in sixth grade, my parents had to hire an after-school tutor to get me through the beginning lessons of geometry. Area, distance, circumference, square feet, etc. just all seemed to slip through my mental grasp. Thankfully, the tutoring succeeded and in high school I was able to pass Geometry with no problem.
But the very fact that we can wrestle with a new concept and get it, or study something hard until we understand it, is an incredible blessing from God! It’s also a blessing when our brain tells our heart to beat and our lungs to breathe without our conscious thought!
Sometimes, we take much of this for granted, especially when we are young. As we start to age, and thinking becomes more of a chore, it should generate gratitude for all our mind has accomplished to this point in life. We should be so grateful for a developing working brain.
As we think about these things, I pray that it causes a river of gratitude to rush through our hearts AND minds; and that we respond with voluntary sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord, that are all our own idea…from our blessing of a brain!
Obtaining Mercy 