Daily Devotional

What draws you to come into God’s presence? I know for me it depends on the day and what’s going on in my life or the lives of those around me. Sometimes I come into His presence because I need something from Him. Sometimes I come into His presence because I’m sad, or afraid, or worried. Maybe a loved one is going through a difficult time, so I come into His presence to lift them up before God. All of these are great reasons to come before God. No matter what we are facing in life we should always remember to bring those things, good and bad to God. I love that Psalm 95:2 reminds us to also come before God simply to give thanks.

I think about my own kids and all the many reasons they come to me. Sometimes they want to ask me if they can have more ice cream. Sometimes they’re sad or scared. Sometimes they come to me to just tell me about their day. I love anytime my children come to me. It’s especially sweet when they come to me to tell me thank you for something.

The other day I was doing a pretty routine household chore; laundry. I got the clothes out of the dryer and folded them into piles for each person in our family. Once I was done, I called the kids to come put their clothes away. Like I said, nothing really out of the ordinary here, just the same thing that’s happened countless times before. One of my kids walked up, grabbed their pile of clothes and said, “thank you daddy” and took the clothes to their room to put away. This was a pretty amazing thing to me because for whatever reason in this moment, one of my kids didn’t focus on the chore they had to do but on the fact that I had washed and folded their clothes and thanked me.

I think about how often I look at what God is doing or what He asks me to do and can easily complain or try to give God my advice. Spurred by the example of my child, I’ve been working on coming to Him with thanksgiving first. Yes, life is full of “chores” but life is also full of blessings that we can give thanks for. Next time you pray, do bring before God your requests, your hurts, your joys, your fears, your concerns, but try starting by entering His presence with thanksgiving and see if starting from that perspective makes a difference.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.