Lydia @ Renewed Day by Day has started a new series called Thursdays of Thankfulness. Every week she is inviting people to post something for which they're thankful, and submit their posts for compilation on Thursdays.
I think this is a great idea. It's very helpful to be disciplined in thinking about things for which we're thankful. You see, gratitude is not merely an emotion, but it's also our duty as Christians – it's the proper response to what God has done for us in Christ. So we ought to thank God even when we don't feel particularly thankful.
Take today, for instance. It's a dull, dreary day. It hasn't stopped raining since I got up, and consequently I don't feel like doing any work. Yet this is precisely the thing for which I should be praising God – our land has been suffering under a drought for such a long time now, that the rain is a welcome relief, not just for farmers, but for all kinds of people.
Furthermore, I can thank God for not being under compulsion to work all day, every day – I can afford to have days where I don't do that much, I am allowed to relax. Rest is also a creation ordinance; leisure and play are ordained by God. And I can thank God for the immense privilege I have in studying theology. Exam preparation becomes a wonderful opportunity to delve deeply into God's Word.
Yes, "the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a beautiful inheritance" (Psalm 16:6). So "bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name" (Psalm 103:1).
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