Open the eyes of my heart to see that You, O God, are the source of all good things and fill me with gratitude for Your kindness.
The heart that sees God sees that we owe everything to Him. The heart that sees God sees that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights (Jas 1:17). The heart that sees God is constantly grateful. It is grateful for simple things like a cup of tea. It is grateful for weightier things like children, which are a gift from God (Ps 127:3). It is grateful for spiritual things like redemption and joy. It is grateful because it sees.
The heart without gratitude withers away. It fails to see the source of our blessings. In fact, it often fails to see the blessings as blessings. It takes for granted the fact that we have food and clothes and friends and work. But the heart that sees God knows that we have no right to any of these things. It knows that our home and food are a gift. It sees in every good thing the grace and kindness of God.
We have such a good God. A grateful heart simply sees that fact and responds in the most natural way. When we show gratitude, we have joy. Grateful people are joyful people. Ingrates are not. If we pay no attention to what God has done for us, we live in our own fantasy world, and whatever “happiness” we construct for ourselves is merely the product of our fantasy. But the real world of God and His grace is so much richer and deeper than any of our self-centered fantasies. It produces real, lasting, deep happiness, and gratitude is the heartfelt response to that reality. Thank you, God, for the riches of Your kindness.
