Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5 (KJV)
For anyone who is a regular web user, remembering passwords is a complicated business. Surely I’m not the only one scratching my head and trying to recall the unique uppercase and lowercase letter-number-and-symbol codes I once created to access my various online accounts? LinkedIn, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, bank accounts, Apple ID, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo to name a few. Forgotten your password? Yes! The Urban Dictionary now includes the term which the internet has coined ‘passworditis’ – forgetting a password.
The psalmist gives us a useful password in Psalm 100:4
Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him. For God is sheer beauty, all generous in love, loyal always and ever. Psalm 100:4-5 (MSG)
The password “thank you” is easy to remember, but too often forgotten when it comes to worship. It’s important to be reminded of this password. Paul says:
…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
In another scripture he says:
…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 (NIV)
Do you remember the ten lepers in Luke’s Gospel? Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee, and as He entered a village, he came upon a leper colony. Ten of them sought healing but nine of them forgot the password “thank you”. Only one remembered.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:15-16 (NKJV)
Let us not become complacent in our thanksgiving. There is a danger in having plenty; when all our needs are met – food, shelter, clothing – we tend to settle back and enjoy the extra things with which God has blessed us. If we forget the source of our wealth, or even worse, we pat ourselves on the back and take the credit for our wealth, then we have forgotten and ignored God, the source of all provision.
Let us not forget to say thank you to God.