The Power of GratitudeSample

Day 7: Thank Him for the Ones You See and the Ones You Don’t

To be born, to survive, to succeed, and sometimes to even fail, we will need help. No one accomplishes anything in life alone. Jesus Himself needed twelve disciples. David needed a lot of help to become king. People like Jonathan, Nathan, or David's brave men were keys the king needed to conquer and maintain his kingdom. Not all help comes in the same way. People like Goliath, Saul, or Judas were also a great blessing, even if it seems hard to believe. If you study it well, they were people who catapulted David and Jesus into their prophetic destinies. We must also be grateful for these people.

"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen" (1 John 4:20). This verse tells us about the importance of being consistent with our behavior in both the physical and spiritual worlds. The same goes for gratitude. There is no point in you living a lifetime of thanking God for His mercies and favor in your life if you are not able to thank the people you see daily or those who have been a blessing in your life. No matter if we're young or adults, we all have more than one person in our life who helped us become who we are or contributed to our life.

In the case of David, at one point in his life he remembered his great friend Jonathan, and although Jonathan was no longer alive, out of love for him, David decided to show mercy to his friend’s son, Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:7). This great gesture of David speaks of the heart of someone who understands the power of gratitude, for he not only commanded his servants to look for Mephibosheth, he also gave Mephibosheth all the lands belonging to his grandfather Saul and gave him a place at his table—the king's table—as one of his sons. There are many ways to be grateful. In this case, although David perhaps could not show Jonathan the gratitude he felt toward him, he did so with his offspring, so it was as if he had done it for Jonathan himself.

Let us be grateful to God and equally grateful to our neighbor. That's heaven's expectation.

Reflection 

• Make a list of five people or more in your life you can thank for something today, and do as King David did—show that appreciation with an important gesture. It can be a call, a gift with a note, or a favor. The important thing is to make a significant gesture.

Prayer

Father, put creative ideas in my heart on how to thank and bless those who have been a blessing in my life. May my thanks not be given only in words or ideas.