The one thing that I want to develop in this New Year is an attitude of gratitude. We all use the word ‘thank you’ every day. In an internet survey, I noticed that 50% of the people say thank you ten times a day but only 10% of people say it fifty times in a day. However, we should have said hundreds of thank yous every day for the different favours we receive from known and unknown people. While this is the case, how much more should we be thankful to God for everything we enjoy from him? Therefore someone said, “If there is one sin that is most prevalent today, it is the sin of ingratitude.” God does so much for us. Our indebtedness to him is enormous but we rarely offer thanks for what he has done. Some professing Christians don’t even offer thanks over their meals.

As we are entering the new year, various things may be a great concern for us. But being worried about them is not going to take us anywhere. However, developing a thankful heart will help us sail through all the difficult times. For God’s children, thankfulness is not confined to a day or a season, it is an attitude we should have every day and every hour.

Johnson Oatman Jr. captures this theme in his famous hymn, ‘Count your blessings name them one by one…’ In one of the stanzas, he says, ‘Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will keep singing as the days go by.’

The Bible teaches us to ‘Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’ Philippians 4:6

May the dear Lord bless us and grant us a heart of gratitude in this new year by which we remove all the obstacles that come our way in this year! God bless!