the secret compartment

The Lord lives!...Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to Your name.
2 Samuel 22:47, 50

In 1794, James Monroe, who later would become America's fifth president, purchased a Louis XVI desk containing a secret compartment that no one but the owner knew about. Many years later, in 1906, one of Monroe's descendants, a child, damaged the desk. It was taken to a cabinetmaker, and the secret compartment was discovered. It contained priceless documents, including letters from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In one of the letters, Jefferson had written: "How little do my countrymen know what precious blessing they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy."

That's a secret that also resides in the secret compartment of the Christian's heart. Every day our cups overflow. Every day we're recipients of one blessing after another. Every morning we see new mercies and rediscover God's great faithfulness.

Don't keep thanksgiving a secret. Find opportunities today to be grateful. Take the most optimistic view of things. Look up with a smile and trust Almighty God and His Word. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

--David Jeremiah

For these blessings we owe Almighty God, from whom we derive them, and with profound reverence, our most grateful and unceasing acknowledgements.
--James Monroe