Enter with Thanksgiving (by Cathe Laurie)

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Psalm 100:4 ESV).

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! The time of turkey, stuffing, and all the pie you can eat.

It’s the season of gratitude, when we wear our Thankful, Grateful, Blessed shirts to our hearts’ content.

Thanksgiving All Year

We emphasize gratitude on Thanksgiving, but what about the rest of the year? What about during the mundane everyday or (even more so) the days full of sorrow, grief, and tears?

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Psalm 100:4 ESV).

Imagine entering a house of relatives or friends this holiday season. When you cross the threshold, do you immediately start asking them for help or picking apart what you wish they had done differently with their home or the meal they’ve prepared? Not usually!

Typically, we walk in with greetings: “It’s so good to see you!” “Wow, the house is gorgeous!” “Thank you so much for having us over!”

We praise. We thank. We acknowledge how important they are to us. Now, I understand that we might not necessarily feel those emotions toward everyone we’ll see this season. But even those you might not see eye-to-eye with, I imagine you still greet them with pleasantries and gratitude.

So, I’ll ask: How do you start your days with the Lord?

Living Out Gratitude

When you wake up in the morning, do you grumble about your stressful to-do list, or do you greet Him with praise and gratitude? When you sit with Him in prayer, do you immediately jump into the things that are wrong, the things you’re begging Him to change? Or do you start with admiration and worship?

God does want our honesty. He wants the nitty-gritty, the “ugly” truth, the deep aches of our hearts. But when we enter with praise first, we set our hearts and minds on the truth of the gospel: that God is good, and He loves us more than we could ever comprehend.

When we begin with gratitude, we position our hearts not from the perspective of our situation, but from the foundation of His Word.

It can be simple: “God, You are good.” “Lord, thank You for this day.” “Father, I praise You.” If nothing else, remember Jesus died for you! “Lord, thank You for giving Your life for my own and paying a debt I would never be able to afford.”

Then, you can go a little more specific: “Thank You for the breath in my lungs.” “Thank You for the beauty of nature—the smell of flowers, the sight of falling leaves.” “Thank You for my family, for laughter, for protection, and provision, and joy.”

Throw on a worship song! Dance around your room! When you open that gate to praise, you may find you struggle to stop!

Enter His gates—enter His presence—with thanksgiving. Not just on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. Start a pattern of praise, and watch your days transform.

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Cathe Laurie is the founder and director of the Virtue women’s ministry. She is also a featured speaker on The Virtue Podcast, at Harvest events, and the author of As I See It. You can find her weekly articles here on harvest.org.