Give Thanks to the Lord 

   “Give thanks to the Lord, who is good, whose mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 106: 1) 

   The United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world.  Even the poorest among us would seem rich to many of the people in this world.  And yet there is so much griping and complaining and so little thanks given to the Lord who has blessed this nation so greatly.

   In my travels in the Navy I visited places where people truly hungered.  Not because they didn’t have the great variety of food available to us, but because they didn’t have enough food of any kind.  A cup of rice was a meal, a small piece of meat or fish a blessing.  We think we have been wronged if our T-bone steak isn’t prepared exactly to our liking.

   Abundance can sometimes be a curse.  It causes unsustainable expectations and when those expectations fall short people think they have been wronged in some way.  Times of need and sacrifice are necessary to help us appreciate all the Lord has done for us.

   Each day we are blessed in so many ways.  We have come to consider them our due, our right.  We think we deserve the better things in life, never considering that we would have nothing if not for the grace of God.  Our very existence is a gift of the Lord.

  We would be much happier and better satisified if we would keep in mind that it is the Lord who has blessed us so greatly and give Him the thanks that He is due. 

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to proclaim your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night…” (Psalm 92: 1 -2),