[B]ecause their duty was … to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening. 2 Chronicles 23:28, 30
We don’t like to think of any aspect of our Christian life -especially giving thanks and praise- as being a duty.
It sounds forced.
We serve God because we choose to, not because He forces us.
Then there’s the issue of sincerity.
When we give thanks, when we offer up praise, they should come from the heart, right?
How can our thanks and praise be sincere if they are reduced to a duty?
But if we’re being honest, if I’m being honest, the real problem isn’t that thanks and praise are a duty…
It’s the fact that I don’t do it.
See, a duty is a service, an obligation, rendered to someone seen as a superior.
As long as I think I can handle things on my own …
As long as I think I can work hard enough …
As long as I think I can be good enough …
I won’t see the need to thank and praise God each morning and each evening.
But when I recognize HIS worthiness and not my own,
I recognize my debt.
When I recognize that debt, then I see what an amazing privilege it is to be given the duty to thank and praise Him morning and evening.