Psalm 136:1
"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."
I'm afraid Christians oftentimes are forgetful to give thanks to God for all that He has done. God's goodness and mercy is exhibited to us in so many ways that we frequently forget to thank Him. Most of the time, our thankfulness to God is a "by-the-way" moment. Instead of immediately showing our gratitude to God, after basking in the moment of His goodness and mercy we remember to thank Him when thankfulness should have been our first reaction. We have to be careful that we don't become so accustomed to God's goodness and mercy that thankfulness is only a "by-the-way" moment.
The psalmist dedicates a whole psalm to remind us of God's mercy and goodness. We are reminded that God is good because everything He gives to us is because of His mercy towards us. We are reminded in this psalm that God delivered us, guided us, defended us, blessed us, saved us and provides our daily food. With all of these things and more, the Christian should continually have thanks to God coming from their lips. Let me remind you of four things we should remember about God's goodness and mercy.
First, never take for granted the goodness and mercy of God. Never allow yourself to get to the point where you feel you deserve God's mercy and goodness. You should always remember that God at any moment has the right to stop being merciful to you. His goodness to you is a blessing, and you must be sure to be thankful anytime He extends His mercy and goodness.
Second, take every opportunity to thank God. Don't let your thankfulness be a "by-the-way" moment; rather, every time something good happens let thankfulness to God be your first reaction. Thankfulness must become an immediate reaction. If you don't take God's mercy and goodness for granted, then you will find it easy to immediately give Him thanks.
Third, always take time to recognize God's mercy and goodness in your life. I believe it would help you to set a small amount of time aside weekly to write down how God has been merciful and good to you in the previous week. When you look at Psalm 136, that is exactly what the psalmist did. This will help you to stay in an attitude of thankfulness to God.
Fourth, the moment you forget God's mercy is the moment God's goodness will likely cease. God is never pleased when you start taking credit for everything in your life or start giving credit to man for what's happened in your life. God will not share His glory with man. God will cease to bless you the moment you start giving the glory to man that belongs to God.
Christian, let this devotional be a reminder to purposely give credit and thanks to God for everything in your life. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the moment of His goodness that we forget to thank Him. Let God know you appreciate what He has done for you by continually thanking Him for His mercy and goodness.