“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy is everlasting.” (Psalm 107:1 NASB)
I’ll admit it! Because I can turn on the radio and listen to a couple of my sons in their radio talent jobs, I do check them out to see what they are playing and saying (smile). One of the songs I heard recently was “Thank You, Next,” by Ariana Grande whose overall theme in her recording is centered on being thankful for what she has learned in her relationships and that she holds no grudges. She’s apparently thankful. Warning! Parental Advisory: If you ask Alexa to play her for you, ask for the radio version to skip the profanity. (In my world curse words are not normal vocabulary, even if it makes it to the regular dictionary of the hip hop dictionary or the language spoken in the streets.)
As I listened to the song, I instantly did my own remix as I sang along in the car, changing the words to “Thank you Lord” and saying this repetitively from my heart. My spiritual vector altered the direction of the thoughts expressed in the song and my mind steers towards thinking about all I have to be thankful for. When He woke me up, as soon as I was fully conscious, the next thing I did was say “Thank you Lord!” When I sat down to write, after I turned on my computer, the next thing I did was say, “Thank you Lord!” When the Spirit brings it to my attention that I have made a typographical error, do you know what is next? I say, “Thank you Lord.” After sending out personal emails containing the daily meditation, the next thing I say is, “Thank you Lord” for using me in this ministry. My next step is to post the meditation on the blog website. I think about the son who set up the site and trained me how to use it. So what’s next? I say, “Thank you Lord,” for I am surely, sincerely grateful for my son’s tutelage. As I follow his directions, every time my mind tries to multitask and think ahead, but the Lord brings me back to focusing on my primary task and my purpose for the moment. What’s next? I say, “Thank you Lord.” After laboring early in the morning on each day, my wife asks me what I want for breakfast and do I need some more coffee to go with my Jesus. I don’t take it for grant it. After answering in the affirmative, I say, “Thank you Lord.” All throughout my day, you know what’s next? You got it again: “Thank you Lord.” When I figured out something I didn’t really want to happen, revealed itself as working out for good, what was next, “Thank you Lord.” What’s next? “Thank you Lord” for people like YOU!
What’s next for you today? I’m pretty sure you will have multiple opportunities, more than you can count or envision right now; opportunities where you will know what should be next; nothing other than “Thank you Lord!” It was apparently on the mind of the Psalmist who penned Psalm 107. I put two of his verses in the closing, so you can see “What’s Next” on the Psalmist’s mind when you read the entire Psalm. One more “What’s Next” for you on this Friday morning: “Be blessed!”
“They shall give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, and for His wonders to the sons of mankind!” (Psalm 107: 8 NASB) “They shall give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, and for His wonders to the sons of mankind! (Psalm 107:15 NASB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King