Thankfulness

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

The art of “thanksgiving” should be consistent, steadfast, genuine, year-round in all things. God is so good! Do we give thanks as regularly we ought to? I need to do better! Paul, a prominent leader in the Bible understood this expression of “thanksgiving” so well. It is found almost in all his letters, continually thanking his readers and their faith as in Colossians 1:3 “ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Paul emphasized to give genuine thanks to God everyday of our lives. There are so many reasons to be thankful to the Lord.

One of them is that God wants to be thanked for His providence and sovereignty.  Jesus wants to be thanked for taking our sin and making us clean when He died for us. The Holy Spirit grants us guidance and comfort.  He desires praise, He is worthy and deserves it. 

On the other hand, God is angered by our grievances and complaints in the same way He did with the Israelites in Numbers 11:1-2 that says; ”Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.  Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped.”

We are reminded that there is not a single thing we own, nor a single thing we are that has not been given to us by the Lord.  Right from appearance to where we live, our breath to salvation and many more!  Whatever we do we cannot out give God even in our greatest offerings and sacrifices!  He is the Author and our Creator!

Being unthankful keeps us from moving forward.  After the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, they spent forty years in the desert complaining in a merry go round fashion.  Their eyes were taken off the big picture (The Promised Land).  The promise was awaiting, lack of thankfulness kept them from taking their next step into it.  Self-centeredness holds us back but gratitude launches us forward into God’s design for us.

Thanksgiving changes our viewpoint.  When we are intentionally thankful, our focus turns from ourselves to the goodness of God and all He had done and continually does for us.  Our hearts are stirred for joy!  Our joy overflows and the result is fruit growing to be more like Jesus, fruit sprouting all over the place. The more reason to give thanks to God and even those around us!

Dear Lord, fill me with the desire to grow in my relationship with you. Your ways are perfect, teach me to be more thankful daily. Please remind me each day that you long to deepen my faith according to your truth. Amen

Reflect:

What’s one thing you could adjust to be intentional in being more thankful in your life.

Meditate on “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”  Psalm 107:1