A Thankful Heart

My heart, which has been a little dead of late, is coming back to life.  As I have been working my way through the first phrase of the first and greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength," I find my heart refreshed and renewed.

It is no chore to love the Lord with all my heart.  All I have to do is stop and remember that He loved me first and best.  When I consider what He has accomplished for...me...I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving and gratitude and praise.

Several times in the past week, as Flyboy and I sit side by side in our recliners after dinner like a little old couple, I have found myself crying tears of joy, overcome by God's provision for us.  What am I so thankful for?  First of all, that Flyboy made it to his 60th birthday and is currently maintaining good health.  This is not a blessing taken for granted.  We both have jobs and are able to enjoy the gift of giving. Having been on the receiving end an awful lot when we were young and poor during our early years in ministry, the ability to share with others brings us great joy.  Our children, each one, know the Lord - and the singular most important task we were entrusted with at their birth has been realized.  Our two married children chose very, very well, and the blessing of seeing them married to their soul mates leaves me breathless.  We have three amazing grandchildren and a fourth on the way.  And, for the second year in a row, I am able to fly to London over spring break to be with them.  Unspeakable joy!  We shake our heads at the material blessings we have enjoyed this year, feeling unworthy but incredibly showered with God's love.

I could write pages on the thankfulness pouring from my heart right now.  And it is this thankfulness that reminds me of the fact that loving God with all my heart is not such a hard thing after all.  All I have to do is stop and recite a litany of thanksgiving and I remember...He who has done more for me than I can think or imagine is deserving of my whole heart.  I offer it to Him.

Psalm 148

 ¹ Praise the LORD.

   Praise the LORD from the heavens; 

   praise him in the heights above. 

² Praise him, all his angels; 

   praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 

³ Praise him, sun and moon; 

   praise him, all you shining stars. 

⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens 

   and you waters above the skies.

 ⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD, 

   for at his command they were created, 

⁶ and he established them for ever and ever— 

   he issued a decree that will never pass away.

 ⁷ Praise the LORD from the earth, 

   you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, 

⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds, 

   stormy winds that do his bidding, 

⁹ you mountains and all hills, 

   fruit trees and all cedars, 

¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle, 

   small creatures and flying birds, 

¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations, 

   you princes and all rulers on earth, 

¹² young men and women, 

   old men and children.

 ¹³ Let them praise the name of the LORD, 

   for his name alone is exalted; 

   his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. 

¹⁴ And he has raised up for his people a horn,

   the praise of all his faithful servants, 

   of Israel, the people close to his heart.

   Praise the LORD.