Praise Him!

This week’s final chapter starts and ends with the same verse, which shows we need to pay attention:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”

This is an instruction, a polite way of saying a command. 

The Bible is FILLED with this simple instruction; give thanks.

We’re to:

• Worship Him
• Praise Him
• Thank Him
• Be thankful 
• Rejoice 
• Be joyful 
• Celebrate

And the list goes on. 

If you were to highlight every verse that talks about praise and thankfulness in your Bible, your Bible would be as colourful as a rainbow. 

I believe there are 3 BIG reasons why God took up so much space in the Bible with this command. 

Firstly - because praise helps you lift your eyes off your own lives and remember who God is, how big and powerful He is, how loving and giving He is. All of creation was made to worship Him. 

Secondly - because praise seals your faith. If you truly believe God can and He will, then you thank Him for it! It also reminds us of what God has already done, which helps us build our faith for the next thing!

And lastly - because we need reminding! Unless we practise praise we forget! Unless we decide to be thankful we get weighed down by all of life’s happenings and miss the beauty of what God is doing!

Today let’s practise being thankful.

Can you list 5 things you’re thankful for each day?

Why not text someone else what you are thankful for or play “praise ping pong” with your family?

Praise ping pong is a game Barney and I play when things look bad, or if we’re on a long car journey. One person starts with something they are thankful for, then the next person goes and you keep going back and forth or round and round until you can’t think of anything else to praise God for!