A life of thanks

“It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle choice.”

This is a phrase I’ve heard on many occasions when someone is entering into a journey of health. The idea that this is a commitment, not an event. 

As we are in this time of giving thanks once again I must ask myself and others, is this thankful heart a diet, or a lifestyle? As we find ourself in the midst of temptation to look to the negative things in life, will we in a moment of weakness lose our grasp on that thankful heart that we sought so hard to achieve? I urge us that this not be the case.

Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.”

If we simply allow thankfulness to be an event, then how can we do as this verse implies? No. We must make thanks a lifestyle choice.

It takes more than commitment, it takes true devotion. It takes looking beyond the circumstances, beyond the distraction, and beyond my own understanding. Human understanding says, “Holidays are here, time to stress about money and time” yet a thankful heart says “He will provide all my needs. Human understanding looks upon circumstances, but a thankful heart looks upon the overcomer of circumstances.

Can we please come to a place where thankfulness has become so much of a lifestyle that it is like breath. I can no more be unthankful than I can stop breathing; perhaps for a moment, but I must begin again.

For in every day we wake up, in every breath me take, there is a reason to thank God. His blood was spilled that we would be with Him forever. As the year comes to an end, we reflect on what has been, what is, and what is yet to be; so be thankful for this, you are not where you were, you are where you are, and you will not be where you are forever. 

His plan is so much greater, His thoughts are so much higher, and His love, is so much more intense, piercing, and constant than we could ever begin to understand. Praise Him, oh ye saints and sinners, and draw close, knowing that His breath in you is another opportunity to embrace He who first loved.

Justin Gardner pastors at River of Life Fellowship, 702 Church St., Sandpoint. The church can be reached at 208-255-7111.