Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. — Psalm 100:4
So many times in life we talk about all the things that are going on around us. Many times all we hear are the negative things. We hear about those who perhaps have died, those who are sick, or others who may have been injured. We hear about the loss of jobs, the loss of homes, or the loss of other things that matter.
If all we do is focus on the things that we hear around us each day, it sure would be easy to be discouraged with what is taking place. So many times it sounds like our world is full of negatives and it seems that you would have to work hard to hear or see a positive thing that has happened.
Then, it actually happens. You hear that positive story or you hear the good news and suddenly your spirit is lifted once again. You realize that life is not always negative. Things are not always bad. That type of encouragement comes from the amazing God we serve, who continually amazes us with all that He does.
In this Psalm, the psalmist writes to enter into the gates with thanksgiving and into the courts with praise. The gates refer to the places of worship, the courts refer to the public areas around the place of worship. The idea is to celebrate the goodness of God where others can hear how great of a God we serve.
So instead of focusing on the negatives, perhaps we can focus on sharing some good news with those around us. Yes, you may be in the middle of a trial and facing uncertain circumstances. You may be facing difficulties as you have never experienced in your life. Yet, God has been good to us all and is worthy of praise. I wonder what type of a difference we could make by telling everyone about the goodness of God today?