How Gratitude Can Be A Magnet For More Blessings

A few months ago, we visited a church in Aberdeen, Scotland. The preacher for that day gave a sermon from Psalm 107:1-3 which got me thinking about how indeed gratitude can be a magnet for more blessings. Here is the New Living Translation version of these verses.

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 2 Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. 3 For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.

What I took away from this sermon is that, not only are we commanded to give thanks but we must also speak out about it. This is so profound, we are commanded to show gratitude for God\’s goodness and let others know about it.

 

I like what Rachel Cruze an expert in financial management always says:

\”in a heart full of gratitude there is no room for discontentment\” 

When you think about it, this statement holds a lot of truth. When you live with gratitude and say so, you immediately banish discontentment out of your life.

#1. Gratitude,

Forces you to focus on the blessings or what you have instead of what you do not have. Being grateful and saying so shifts the focus from what is not going well to what went well. All of a sudden the fact that you have enjoyed good health for the year and not been in and out of a hospital makes sense. The fact that you have a place to live or a job which ensures there is food on your table and the lights are on suddenly has meaning.

Like any father, our heavenly father rewards children who show gratitude for what he gives them. He owns everything, the silver and gold and all the cattle on a thousand hills are his. He is also a fair and generous God who gives as he desires and asks that we show gratitude. In scripture we find several places where we are commanded to \”enter his gates with praise…\”  it is when praise goes up that God\’s blessings come down.

#2. Gratitude is indeed a magnet…

You just imagine how you would feel if one of your children shows a lot of gratitude every time you do something for them. Can you imagine that you have got two children. One of them is always taking and immediately asking for something else without showing appreciation. The other one shows appreciation each time they are given something. Which of these two children will you be looking forward to rewarding? The answer is obvious right? That is why Iyanla Vanzant was right when she observed that;

\”Gratitude is like a magnet, the more grateful you are, the more you will receive what to be grateful for.\”

Finally,

Given the fact that gratitude brings more into our lives and turns what we already have into enough, we owe it to ourselves to cultivate this habit in our lives. We need to always remember that we can never receive what to be thankful for until we show gratitude for what we already have. In view of this, let us purpose to obey God\’s command and live a life of thanksgiving. We should not wait to be reminded to give thanks. Instead, let us make it a habit to not only be thankful but also find ways to express our gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving day to my friends and family in the USA.