Enter Into His Gates with Thanksgiving

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. – Psalm 100:4

Traditionally, every fourth Thursday in November is set aside for the celebration of Thanksgiving Day. On that day there are Thanksgiving parades on television in the morning, followed by football games in the afternoon. It is a day when family, friends, and loved ones gather together to share a bounteous meal and enjoy one another’s company.

But, amidst all of the parades, football games, and bounteous meals, Thanksgiving Day should be a day for pausing to give thanks and to reflect upon the many blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon each and every one of us. It is a time to give thanks, not only for the large blessings that are ours to enjoy, but for the smallest of blessings as well. We are admonished in the Scriptures that in everything we are to give thanks because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning each and every one of us. (1 Thessalonians 5:18). We are further taught in the Scriptures to not fear, but to let our hearts be comforted and to rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks. (D&C 98:1).

Thanksgiving Day; however, should not be the only day that we pause to give thanks. Every day of our lives should be a day of Thanks Giving. Each and every day we should as the Psalmist declared, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” (Psalm 100:4). If we were to take the time to take a personal inventory of our lives, I am sure that each of us would find many things that we are indeed thankful for.

In my own personal life, I am thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of the True and the Living God. It is He who guides my footsteps and sustains me each and every day. I am thankful for the glorious Gospel and for the things that I learn as I read and study from the pages of Scripture that help me in my daily walk as I strive to be a living witness and testimony. I am also thankful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of which I testify and bear solemn witness is the Lord’s True Church on the earth today. I am thankful for a Living Prophet on the earth today who through the Divine inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit is able to teach us in all righteousness. Furthermore, I am thankful for the loving support of family and friends. I fear that I do not often enough express my appreciation for each of them, but they are truly the wind beneath my wings.

These are just some of the things that I am thankful for, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of my life as I strive to make each day of my life a day of Thanks Giving. None of us should ever take any of our blessings for granted. We should ever be mindful of the words of the Psalmist when he said, “So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.” (Psalm 79:13). Let us make every day a day of Thanks Giving.

I do not mean to come across as being callous, cruel, or mean-spirited, but the older I get, the more discouraged and dishearten I become as I watch some of our young people - the future of our world, place themselves in a proverbial box called defeatism. Unquestionably, some of us have grown up in unfavorable conditions and in an unkind society that constantly reminds us, and in some cases has thoroughly convinced us, that our father never amounted to much, and our mother has never amounted to much, and so, as the proverbial apple never seems to fall far from the tree, we ourselves can expect to never amount to much either. The tragedy of it all is that society is not alone in painting this picture of hopelessness and despair, but that same picture hangs on the walls in our homes, as well as, in the classrooms of our schools.

I wish to send a very clear, precise, and concise message to our youth of today: the time has come for you to stop wallowing in the mud of hopelessness and slowly drowning yourselves in the sea called despair. Now is the time to break free from that proverbial box that you have found yourselves in, and from the strangling chords of the voices of naysayers who preach negativism and defeatism. Rise above your current station in life. You can if you believe that you can!

Maybe it is true that your father and mother have never done anything to make an honorable name for themselves, or have ever tried to get out of their current situations and better themselves. Maybe it is true that you were born in unfavorable and adverse conditions. Maybe it is true that all of your young life people have done nothing but knock you down and kick you while you were down. However, it does not have to stay that way. Though the night may seem dark and dreary, nighttime only last for a season and then the morning comes. And with the dawning of the morning comes a light of hope that shines bright as the noon day sun.

Now is the time for you to start realizing that you are not your father and you are not your mother. God Almighty has made each of us uniquely YOU. He has meted to you and me a measure of faith, hope, courage, talents, and abilities. It is time for you to put behind you those things that once were, and press forward to obtain those things that can, and (with faith, hope, patience, determination, and endurance) will be. Stop listening to the perpetual lies of those who do not have your best interest at heart, and start believing in yourself. You can do whatever it is you have a mind to do, and you can become whatever it is that you have a desire to become in life, but YOU have to believe that you can do it. If you cannot believe in yourselves, how can you honestly expect anyone else to?

Do not become discouraged if at first you do not succeed at doing something, but try and try again knowing that the road to success is often filled with potholes called failure. Many a success in life has been wrought through heartache and failure, so don't let that stop you. Even along the road of success will be hurdles and discouragement which you will have to get over, but don't let that stop you either. Continue to run your race with your head held high and a song of hope and gladness in your heart. You may not be the first to cross the finishing line, but then the winner of a race is not always necessarily the swiftest runner in the race, but he who runs his race well by remaining focused, staying his course, and enduring to the end.

There will be times along the way when you may become weary. Stop and rest for a little while if you must, but don't give up, give in, or quit. Remain focused on your goals and objectives. The finishing line is just in sight. You can make it. Yes you can! May God give you the hope, courage, faith, and determination to endure to the end. God bless you all!

Lessons in the Key of Life

Lessons that I have learned as I journey through life.