Today’s 333 Devotional: “An Attitude of Gratitude”

George Washington’s 1782 Thanksgiving Proclamation expresses beautifully the dependence on God by our Founding Fathers, the Continental Congress, and the earliest leaders of our government. With these words, President Washington gives God credit for every victory and success experienced by America.

“It being the indispensable duty of all Nations, not only to offer up their supplications to ALMIGHTY GOD, the giver of all good, for His gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner to give Him praise for His goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of His providence in their behalf.”

Our forefathers and our founding fathers believed the Bible, and they knew its author, God. And here’s the point, no matter what they went through, and it some really tough stuff, they maintained an attitude of gratitude.

In a few days most Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving by sitting around a table filled with all sorts of good stuff. What’s sad is that we only do this once a year. I’m sad because I really like Turkey and all the fixings. But the real reason is because being thankful is something we should be all year long.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesian church says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:19-20)

When we come together, we should be thanking God for all that He has done. The giving of thanks is more than merely an action, it’s an attitude, and it’s something we need to do all the time, and not just when we feel like it, or when something good happens, or when we sit down to eat. We should have an attitude of gratitude even when things don’t always go the way we want them to.