Psalm 118:28-29 You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

When something means more to us than we could have ever imagined, we want to sing and dance; we want to let everyone know. Jesus is my God, my savior and my friend! Now imagine someone, anyone in your mind saying this and dancing and smiling. This is what David is telling us we need to do every day. We are to praise Him for His greatness, love and mercy. The God that sacrificed everything for our souls.

We are to exalt Him. He is to be lifted above anyone and everything in our lives. Anything that we put above Him is an idol. God hates idols. He is jealous for us and our relationship towards Him. We are to be thankful for everything. Do you ever thank Him for the small things in life? The cool breeze on a hot day? Flipping the light switch and the lights come on? Whatever goodness is shown to us is from Him.

The one thing that hurts us in these efforts is a distracted mind. This is why the world is full of so many different types of entertainment and distractions. When our full attention is not on God, then we are short-changing ourselves in our relationship with Him. We lose connection, we lose opportunity, and most of all we lose chances to grow in our praise and thankfulness. Everything that was created was created for the Lord. Think of the chances we have to praise Him only if we recognize the opportunity.