Being Thankful Is A Choice

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and most of us have visions of gluttony dancing in our minds as we think of turkey, dressing, and pecan pie, oh my!

Thanksgiving, however, is not just a day, or it should not just be a day. Being thankful is a choice.

We can choose or choose not to be thankful. For a Christian, life should be marked by thanks-living. A Christian should always be thankful, and there are three ingredients that make thanks-living possible.

1. Thanks-living is made possible by a life of rejoicing.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice evermore.”

The first ingredient to a life of thanks-living is to rejoice.

The word rejoice appears in the Bible 14 times or so my Bible dictionary says, and it means, biblically, to have delight in the Lord.

Rejoicing is delighting in the Lord’s presence in our lives.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

If you believe this psalm, blessings are dependent upon rejoicing in the Lord. Now to understand what Paul was saying when he writes rejoice evermore, you must understand the persecution that was taking place in the Church at Thessalonica, and that persecution was being spearheaded by the Jews.

As a matter of fact, at one point, it got so bad that Paul felt that it would ease if he just left. Now, it seems harsh for Paul to command the church to rejoice in the face of such persecution, but it is not harsh.

As a Christian, rejoicing is the key living a thankful life. When I rejoice, I am not rejoicing over any particular situation in life. I am rejoicing in the Lord. Situations change. God does not, and I can always rejoice in the fact that God is there for me, and He is never going to change.

Sometimes, we confuse joy and happiness, but joy and happiness are no the same. Happiness is circumstantial. It is an emotion that we cannot control. For example, when I go to sit down for our thanksgiving dinner, an uncontrollable smile will come across my face, but that smile will disappear when I walk to the kitchen and see that Colin has gotten the last piece.

Rejoicing, however, is not a spontaneous emotion. It is an intentional act of faith.

Habakkuk 3:17–19 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, And he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”

Habakkuk tells us that rejoicing is a choice. It is a decision that we make, and it is the first ingredient of thanks-living.

2. Thanks-living is made possible by a life of nonstop prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Paul then advises the Christians in the church of Thessalonica to pray without ceasing. Paul stresses it so much because prayer is the heavenly fuel that keeps the flame of joy burning even in times of trials.

Prayer is the line of communication to the Father. To pray without ceasing means that we are to persevere in our prayer lives. Perseverance is the key.

Perseverance means persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

There are many references in the New Testament to Christians being persistent in prayer.

Romans 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;”

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

Colossians 4:2 “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;”

If we want to live lives of thanks-living, we must be persistent in prayer. We must pray without ceasing. Now, admittedly, human beings are results-driven creatures. When we pray, we want immediate results, but sometimes there are other factors involved.

We, often, dismiss the struggle in the spiritual realm. There is an account in the Bible where Daniel prayed persistently for three weeks to God, and God answered that prayer as soon as Daniel asked it, but the answer in the physical realm did not appear immediately.

Daniel 10:2–3 “In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.”

Daniel 10:12–13 “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.”

Daniel prayed persistently for three weeks about the deliverance of Judah, and God answered the prayer immediately, but it took three weeks because of the spiritual warfare in the spiritual realm for the answer to that prayer to be delivered to Daniel.

God answers your prayers. One of the great passages in the Bible about prayer is found in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 8:3–4 “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

Every prayer that has ever been offered by a born-again saint is stored upon the golden altar in Heaven which is before God. AMEN!!! Dear friend, if you want to live a life of thanks-living, you must live a life of rejoicing, and you must pray with perseverance.

3. Thanks-living is made possible by giving thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

In the Bible men of influence were also men who thanked God verbally or literally, even when in despair.

Job thanked God when everything was lost.

Jesus thanked the Father before He fed 5,000 people in the middle of nowhere.

Paul and Silas thanked and praised God from inside a prison cell in Philippi.

As Stephen was dying, he was so thankful for the opportunity to share the gospel that he asked the Lord to forgive those who were stoning him.

St. Ignatius of Loyola has prayed he may become agreeable bread to the Lord while he was being devoured alive by Lions.

John Hus while being burnt alive at the stake thanked God for the mercy he was being shown.

Dear friend, those are example of thanks-living. Those are examples of men who knew their situations on earth were temporary and waned in comparison to the eternal glory God had for them.

The Bible tells us why we should give thanks for everything.

Philippians 4:6–7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Giving thanks brings peace into every situation. It brings immunity against the cares of this world. By giving thanks, our hearts and minds stay focused on Jesus Christ instead of the situation or trouble we are in. Dear friend, the Bible calls that peace that passes all understanding.

I would say all of us could use these ingredients of rejoicing, nonstop prayer, and giving thanks and make ourselves more thankful.

We have so much to be thankful for. If we did as prescribed by these three ingredients, we would never stop being thankful because we would realize how much we have to be thankful for, and the number one thing that I am thankful for is that God loved me so much that He sent Jesus into the world to die for my sins and to give me eternal life.

In Philippians, Paul said by thanksgiving we could have the peace of God that passes all understanding. Dear friend, you cannot have that peace until you have Jesus. Jesus makes that peace possible. Will you come to Him for that peace today?

It is the simplest yet greatest thing that will ever happen to you. Let me read what you have to do.

Romans 10:9–10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. Believing results in righteousness and confession results in salvation. You do not have to know everything about the Bible to be saved. As a matter of fact, if you are lost, you don’t know anything about the Bible anyway. The Holy Spirit once He moves in and God’s Word will reveal to you everything you need to know in time, and this church has a role in teaching you too.

“Jimmy, I am just a terrible person. How do I know God would save me?”

Romans 10:13 “for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”

1 Timothy 2:3–4 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

God wants to give you that peaces that passes all understanding. Just call on Him and be saved today.