| APRIL 2024 -- Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Luke, chapter 17
Scripture frequently reminds us to praise God and be thankful to him at all times. Psalm 95, for instance Psalm 95, for instance, starts with:
O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. Then we have Psalm 100, sometimes called the Jubilate, which begins:
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name.
It seems to me that there is a significant difference between giving thanks and being thankful.
The first may be only an outward verbal or visual act, while the second is primarily internal, something you think or feel or experience. It is possible to give thanks without that internal component, thanking without really meaning it, but since God sees what is in your heart I’m sure God prefers that we feel thankful internally, whether or not we express it externally.
Being thankful is not only the right thing to do, and good for your spiritual well-being, it turns out that it is also good for your mental and physical health. An article in The Huffington Post from November of 2012 describes “10 Reasons Why Gratitude is Healthy” including it boosts well-being, it makes you a better friend to others, it helps you sleep better, it improves relationships, it benefits the heart, and it has been linked to a better immune system.”
But we should not only be thankful individually; we should come together with others to share our mutual thankfulness for God’s provision for our needs. And as we gather together to thank the Lord, whether it be in a Church, a Synagogue, or a Mosque, remember also to bless his name, the Lord “Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”
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