It’s so easy to whine, isn’t it?  If you are at all like me, sometimes being thankful is a choice you make, not a feeling you feel.

In today’s One Year Bible reading, we read, “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God.  Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me” (Psalm 50:14,23).

I’ve always admired those who are positive and thankful, and have noted the joy their lives exhibit.  I want to be that kind of person.  How about you?  Thankfulness is a sacrifice that not only honors God, but it benefits us as well.

• Thankfulness changes our focus, and thus our attitude.
• Thankfulness encourages us when times are difficult, because thankfulness reminds us of God’s faithfulness.
• Thankfulness guards our hearts from having an ungrateful, entitlement mentality.
• Thankfulness makes us more fun to be around.
• Thankfulness not only shows God our appreciation and value for him, it can demonstrate our appreciation and value for others as well.
• Thankfulness helps us focus on what we have rather than on what we don’t have.
• Thankfulness continually reminds us about what is good in ourlives when we are tempted to get bogged down by the junk.

Lord, today I offer you the sacrifice of thankfulness.  I will look for and make note of every blessing I see today and give you thanks.  In fact, Lord, I want to see how many times I can say thank you to you today!  Amen.

In the comments section below, feel free to mention what else thankfulness does for us.