O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. - Psalm 136:1

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Kiwi's don't celebrate Thanksgiving Day, it is not a New Zealand festival, but I am aware some American's follow this website and the occasion is a good time to talk about Giving thanks to God. Which everyone should do, everyday. It is not just for when you feel good or for when something good happens or a prayer is answered. We are commanded to be thankful and when life hurts and it is hard to be thankful for anything, that is when being thankful becomes a type of sacrifice of praise to God.

If you have the personal relationship with God, you need to develop a habit of constantly and continually, expressing thankfulness to God. Maybe the USA Thanksgiving Day is the annual reminder to them that it's time to stop and say, "when did we last Thank God for everything He does? We try to encourage thankfulness on this website at Matins by building the habit of thanking him nightly for 3 things that happened during the day. This promotes a positive end to the day for us and Him, before we go to sleep.

Thankfulness needs to be a perpetual practice. Not an easy thing when we suffer under the stresses, trials and tests of life. It is something we must develop a habit of doing intentionally. One way of doing this is to keep a gratitude diary. Write down the 3 things every night, then after a bad day, you can look back in your diary and be reminded of all the good things God has done for you. Others keep a book of answered prayers.

We all need to develop an 'attitude of gratitude'. As a child I remember watching an old Disney movie on TV, ‘Pollyanna’ and truly we all need to play Pollyanna’s “Glad Game". The Game was to always find something to be glad about, we all need to do that and there was even a word for the local Minister (see Sext). We need to all play the glad game but at a new level, we need to turn it into praise to God for the things we can be glad about.

So if you don’t have that attitude, start playing the “glad game” and build one. I have never met a backslidden, thankful person. How long do you think depression and thankfulness can co-exist in the same person? So play the glad game and focus on the good, positive things in life, count your blessings and thank God for them. Who would you rather spend time with the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Depression? I am going to make a conscious effort to play the glad game and become more thankful. One of the things God has taught me is that life is too short to be sad all the time.