Heart Gratitude

As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, we are reminded that God loves a grateful heart. What is a grateful heart? It means that when we receive a gift, we should not only be thankful for the gift, but also be thankful to the person who gave it to us. It can be hard to remember to stop and really thank someone when you have just opened an awesome video game or toy! Saying thank you doesn’t always mean that we are feeling grateful in our hearts. Have you ever said thank you really quickly, just because you know you should, to get away to play with your new toy? We can’t pretend to be thankful. We need to ask the Lord to help us genuinely feel grateful in all things. So, this Thanksgiving, let’s not only be thankful for the many blessings the Lord has given us, but also truly thankful to Him for giving them to us. This year I am not only thankful for my wonderful parents, for my wonderful home, for my ability to communicate and for many other blessings, but also for my autism. My autism is a blessing, too, because the Lord is using it for my good and for His glory. Can you think of something that doesn’t seem ’good’, but the Lord may be using for His good in your life?

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” —Psalm 100:4