Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Wow, last month of the year already!!! I believe I should be more than grateful to God for His mercy and loving kindness towards me all through this glorious year. Have you enjoyed His overflowing mercy this year as promised? Look inwards and see what He has actually done for you. I have seen His goodness in my life and I can say without any iota of doubt that God has been so good to me (good health, promotion, favour, needs met, etc). I cannot sincerely count them all. It is true that in today’s society, some of us may think we don’t have much to be thankful for. From loss of jobs, homes, cars and possessions, what’s left? Is it the never ending war and the bad economy, why should we still be thankful to God? 1 Thess. 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” This means, no matter what we may go through, good or bad, God will always make a way for us. Even at our darkest time or hour, God will always turn a negative into a positive, if we only believe and trust in Him. In this life there will always be things to complain about. But God gave us a choice. Do we choose to be positive or negative? Is the glass half empty or full? No matter how grim our situations may be, there will always be something to be thankful for. Did we live to see another day? Do we have our health and strength? Are our families ok? Do we have clothes, food and shelter? If we only believe and trust in God, He will give us our needs and not necessarily our wants. Rom. 8:28-30 says, “For those who know Christ, God also works everything together for good, even events we would not necessarily consider good.” As we come to the end of the year, I believe gratitude should be our offering to God, the One who has made all things work together for good in your life. The Psalmist says in Psalm 107:1-2 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy”. Even when we receive something that doesn’t seem good, we can be grateful because we know there is more to it than we can see. What seems like an imperfect gift may be the means by which God perfects us. This month let us choose to be grateful to Him for a thankful life is a fruitful life. Congratulations and rejoice that you are alive and well. Let the peace of God rest on you always in Jesus name. Merry Christmas. Yemisi Onanuga.