Living In Gratitude

Every day I do more than pray. I live in a constant state of gratitude. I am so accustomed to thanking God for every good thing (and there are hundreds, even thousands of good things every day) I am acutely aware of His presence as a result. It's a wonderful way to live, this constant state of gratitude. You must understand that this doesn't mean that nothing bad has ever happened to me, and therefore I live in a la-la world of only blessings. It means that when something bad does happen, I'm so in the habit of thanking God that I can see clearly every good thing in the midst of the bad thing. It's like wearing night vision goggles. The small, sometimes minute specks of blessings become brightly visible to me and they give me strength.

Bible says "he who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies God". Time and time again the theme is repeated that God doesn't want the kind of sacrifice we often think of. He doesn't want us to "give up" things so much as he wants us to "offer up" things. There's a difference. He doesn't want us to live a life of want and without. He wants us to enjoy the abundance he offers, and expand it by appreciating it and giving thanks for it, and sharing it with others. We can never lose our blessings by sharing them. We can only lose them by hording them. Blessings jealously horded only become moldy and rotten. When given away, they are replenished a hundred times over.

This concept of living in gratitude works on multiple levels, but here are the top two for me:

It gives me peace, strength, and a strong sense of abundance which equals well-being.

It offers up to God praise which He welcomes and blesses.