Thanksgiving has come & gone. The only sign remaining is the little bit of turkey which will become turkey salad for lunch today 🙂 This morning I read one line from a Puritan prayer that struck me deeply….

“Father, You have given us so much. We ask for one thing more—a thankful heart.”

There is a big difference between giving thanks & having a thankful heart. A thankful heart will be filled with gratitude. It will be a heart that is thankful for Who God is and for what He has already done (even if He were never to do another thing!!!).

We are now in the midst of Christmas. Probably the #1 question that any of us will be asked is, “What would you like for Christmas?”. I have already been asked this morning 🙂 And so, we make our list. We check it twice. We try to make sure we have not missed anything that we might want. All good.

But may we all ask for the one thing that is most important – – – a thankful heart. A thankful heart will leave no room for grumbling. We cannot both be thankful & grumble at the same time. God wants us to come into His Presence:

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalm 100:4 NIV).

The gates referred to in this verse are the gates that lead into the temple area. Worshipers had to come through those gates in order to participate in public worship.

They (the people) must come into his courts with praise. This is a highly charged command that calls for a wholehearted response. Authentic praise should be permeated with much thanksgiving to God, recalling the abundant blessings that have come from him. Worshipers should live under the constant theme of gratitude to God.

Holman Old Testament Commentary, Psalms 76-150, page 135

The question for me becomes….

Am I living under the constant theme of gratitude to God? Sure I express gratitude to God. I give thanks to God. But is it the constant theme of my life? Is it the constant theme of yours?

Constant…..

• not changing or varying from day to day or from circumstance to circumstance

Constant…..

• continuing without pause, without letup

Constant…..

• regularly recurrent, continual & persistent

Constant…..

• faithful, unswerving, devoted

Constant…..

• steadfast, resolute to do

God gives us a prompt in the next verse to get us started 🙂 Just in case we needed a reason to give thanks.

“For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalm 100:5 NIV).

So, Lord, You asked in the stillness of the day,  “What do you want for Christmas?” I ask for one more thing. I ask for a heart that is grateful to You.

A constantly grateful heart.