“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34, NKJV).

He was an ordinary man in rural America, the kind that Jesus would have taken up with: “When I found out about my esophagus cancer, I went through a time of struggle; so, I took it to the Big Man. I told Him that He needed to take care of it, because I couldn’t handle it—and I had a gun to make things quick if He didn’t. Well, here I am, and the cancer is gone. The Lord blessed me and gave me a divine task. My job is to make people smile whenever I meet them. So, I’m doing it with you.” And he did make me smile.

Deliverance is a great thing. Some of us have experienced God stepping into an impossible time of our lives and pulling us out of the fire. Praise God, and may we never forget!

All of us whom He has delivered from sin and given eternal life should consistently feel a deep sense of gratitude for that saving grace.

However, our deliverance should not stop with a feeling of gratitude. Like my patient above, deliverance should lead to an active gratitude, much like active love, a gratitude that commits us to divine tasks in this world.

God’s nature is to bless those He loves. Jesus came to give us an abundant life (John 10:10). God’s goal is to bring all of creation into the ultimate goodness of His presence. He hung on a cross to do so. Billy Graham is attributed as saying, “It has been said there was a cross in the heart of God long before the cross was erected at Calvary.”

His “goodness is running after; it’s running after me,” as we sing in the song Goodness of God.

When His goodness comes our way, He does not demand we thank Him, but it so pleases Him when we do. And, when we do, we should demonstrate our gratitude in an active way, pouring it into the life of someone else He loves.

For whom this week will I demonstrate an active gratitude for God’s goodness to me? How will I pass it on? God does not demand it, but He deserves it, and it makes Him smile.

Thank you, God.

Keep me always aware of your blessings and let me show my gratitude for you by serving those you love.

Amen