Can I Honor God?

Psalm 50:14
Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.  

Thankfulness can be translated as confession, praise, thanksgiving.   This verse struck me as I realized just how hard thankfulness is for me.  It is a sacrifice that God expects and yet I often blow it off as unnecessary.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for many things and definitely for my salvation; however I find that truly in the depths of my heart I am not all that thankful.  I am constantly wanting something more than what I have - emotionally, spiritually and physically.  I find that contentment is a battle that I often lose.

Recognizing that in Psalm 50:7 God reminds me that "I am God, your God!" and that in verse 14, He requires thankfulness is rather eye opening for me.  I find that I have a surface level thanksgiving rather than a thankfulness from the heart and I find hope from the fact that God allows confession and praise along with thanksgiving to count!

Psalm 50:22a says, "Repent, all of you who forget me," and verse 23a says, "But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors Me."  

I realize I have taken bits and pieces of the Psalm to look at.  If you read the whole Psalm you will discover that God is quite put out by the Israelites and He speaks rather harshly or firmly.  He reminds them that He is their God, the I AM.  He reminds them that He does not need their sacrifices, that He is God and He "owns the cattle on a thousand hills."  That "every bird on the mountain and all the animals of the field are His".  That if "He were hungry, He would not tell them, for all the world is HIs and everything in it"!  He is the Judge of everyone! But look at the HOPE revealed.  We can repent.  And giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly HONORS Him!!  This is the path He has for us to walk.

Thanksgiving is more than words, it is an attitude.  This is the path He has for me to walk, one that is filled with a thankful heart.  I am to mean what I say and the proof is in how I live, not just in my words.  Words are sometimes easy, whereas follow through is not.

Father God, thank You for pricking my heart over my lack of thankfulness.  Forgive me for often saying I am thankful when truly I am dealing with a bad attitude.  Thank You that thankfulness is way more than flowery words but that it includes confession and a recognition of Who You Are.  I am thankful that You allow me the opportunity to bring You glory and I can do so with thanksgiving.  Forgive me for thinking that You need anything from me.  Thank You that though I often find myself in trouble, You always rescue me.  Thank You that You have rescued me for eternity for providing Jesus to pay my sin debt and saving my soul, but I also thank You that You rescue me daily and You want me to live an abundant life in the now and I can do this by developing a thankful heart.  You even provide the strength to do that!  I am never alone. You provide all I need.  All the time.  Thank You, Holy Spirit for giving up heaven to live inside of me!  Father God the depth of Your sacrifice astounds me.  Forgive me for taking You for granted so often.  Change me, Lord, help me to truly be more thankful from the inside out.  Forgive me for complaining and being ungrateful.  I want to honor You.