And Be Thankful
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Reading and Introduction
Reading and Introduction
This week, our nation celebrates the long-standing and cherished tradition of Thanksgiving. For nearly four centuries, the people populating this country have observed Thanksgiving around this time of year, seeing fit to take time to reflect on blessings and remember all the reasons there are to be thankful.
Thankfulness is not simply a proper demeanor or polite attitude. Thankfulness, at least for the Christian, should be a lifestyle. Scripture has a great deal to say concerning gratitude and thanksgiving. If we seek to be God’s children, we must cultivate and live out a spirit of thankfulness.
Over 50 verses in the New Testament address or speak of thankfulness. We see it commanded, inferred, and exemplified. Relying on these passages, we can learn why thankfulness is so important, what the characteristics of godly thankfulness are, and what things we should truly be thankful for.
The Importance of Thankfulness
The Importance of Thankfulness
Ingratitude opens the door to sin
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Thankfulness is an important way in which we praise and worship God
16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
When speaking about the public worship assembly, Paul mentioned the giving of thanks
16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.
Thanksgiving is part of the Heavenly worship given to God
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
Rev.
Giving thanks brings Glory to God
15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
Giving thanks is not the only form of praise, but it is a key element of praise. If we wish to praise God, one of the best things we can do is thank God. How often do you thank God? How often do you reflect on the various blessings God has given, and then take time to offer Him thanks for those blessings? It is impossible to appreciate and praise God fully if we never offer thanks to Him.
There are Spiritual Benefits of Thankfulness
Thankfulness helps replace evil speech
4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Getting rid of evil behavior is not all there is to Christianity. One must replace evil behavior with righteous actions and attitudes. One such attitude is thankfulness. As we receive and focus on God’s grace, we should develop a thankful spirit. Doing so will help us maintain a good and proper spirit that is not easily overtaken again by former sinful ways.
Thankfulness helps us remain watchful
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
Christians must always be watchful. Discontentment and ingratitude dull our spiritual readiness, and open the door for temptation and error.
When we readily and steadfastly remember God’s grace and blessings, and when we are truly thankful for such, it helps us watch against sin and error that would rob us of our most precious gift of salvation.
Thankfulness helps us be content
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Anxiety and worry are often the results of discontentment or lack of trust in God. If we are ungrateful, we lose sight of God’s care and blessings. When we do that, it is easy to become discontent, and as we do, we likely grow more anxious and stressed - natural results of trusting in ourselves.
Thankfulness helps curb these problems, because thankfulness keeps us continually focused on, and trusting in, God.
Characteristics of Godly Thankfulness
Characteristics of Godly Thankfulness
Abounding
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
The word “abound” means “to be or exist in abundance with the implication of being considerably more than what would be expected” (Louw & Nida).
Common decency and manners move us to be thankful or express thanks at certain times or for certain things. Christian thanks should far exceed common manners - a Christian should overflow with thankfulness.
Constant
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Thanksgiving is a fun time of year, and it is nice to have a season dedicated to thankful reflection. Thankful attitudes should not be cultivated just one day or even one season of the year however. For the Christian, every day should be a day of giving thanks to God.
In All Circumstances
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Thankfulness is not just for times of happiness or deliverance. Everyone is thankful when they survive a car wreck or are cured of a terrible disease. Everyone is thankful when they get a job after a time of unemployment, or when a loved one recovers. When difficult times come though, many forget to be thankful, and lose sight of how much they still have.
The Christian should never let physical circumstances change dampen their thankful spirit. The Christian doesn’t just abound in thanksgiving, they abound in thanksgiving in every circumstance.
Would you describe yourself as “abounding” in Thanksgiving? Do you frequently and abundantly recognize your blessings and offer thanks to God for them?
Are you constant in thankfulness, and able to be grateful no matter your circumstances? Is your thankfulness tied to God and thus always abounding, or are you only grateful when material blessings and physical health are present?
Things to Be Thankful For
Things to Be Thankful For
God’s Provision
The primary example of thankfulness for provision in Scripture is food.
Jesus gave thanks before feeding the 5,000 and 4,000
Jesus said a prayer before eating and drinking during the Lord’s Supper
35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.
3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
Food is just one of many things God gives us to sustain us. Thankfulness for food reminds us to be thankful for all God has given us. God is the giver and sustainer of life, and the giver of all good things. We should readily recognize God’s beneficent gifts, and thank Him for all His provision.
Our Church Family
Paul’s greetings in his epistles show a great deal of thankfulness for his brethren (; ; ; ; ; ; ; )
It would be a worthwhile study to review all of Paul’s “thanksgivings” in these introductions to learn some of the things we should be thankful for in our brethren.
It would be a worthwhile study to review all of Paul’s “thanksgivings” in these introductions to learn some of the things we should be thankful for in our brethren.
It would be a worthwhile study to review all of Paul’s “thanksgivings” in these introductions to learn some of the things we should be thankful for in our brethren.
The good example and obedience of other Christians
17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
How often do our prayers include a giving of thanks for brothers or sisters that are good examples? How often do we thank God for the obedience found in new converts, or the steadfastness of faithful Christians? Is this a way in which we can be more thankful?
The work of other brethren
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.
We should be thankful for those that work for the Lord. We should be thankful for teachers, elders, and preachers. We should be thankful for the work that every single member does. Not only should we be thankful for such work, we should vocalize our thankfulness to God in our own prayers.
What God has done for us
His inexpressible gift
15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
Inexpressible means, “indescribable, beyond words.” The gift of salvation is truly that. For all we know and all God’s Word reveals about His love, grace and mercy that is poured out on mankind through the gift of Jesus, can we truly come up with words to describe the greatness of these things?
Do we value the gift of Jesus as something so great? Do we love and appreciate what God has done for us? Do we thank God for it? Among all the physical things we thank God for, do we also take time to thank Him for Jesus? Do we thank Him for the cross? Do we thank Him for suffering for us, and for bearing our sins? Do we thank God for His inexpressible gift?
Qualifying us for an inheritance
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
If you feel like you have nothing to be thankful for, remember this: God wants you to live forever with Him! So much so, He gave the inexpressible gift of His Son to die for your sins. Doing so opened a way for you to be forgiven, and being forgiven of sins you can share in the inheritance of eternal life.
If that were the only thing we had to be thankful for, we should be more thankful than all the world!
Victory through Christ
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
We face an enemy that we cannot and would not defeat on our own. But we don’t have to, because, Christ has defeated him. Christ has won the victory we could not win. For this, we should be ever grateful.
Because we are offered victory through Jesus, we can be recipients of God’s gracious gifts. We can inherit eternal life, and we can find the only purpose to life here that is not vain and fleeting.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Are you a thankful person? What can you do to be more thankful? What can you do to show your thankfulness more?
Don’t let Satan distract you with passing distraction or temporary suffering. Remember what God has done, what God is doing, and what God has promised. Thank God for all His gifts, and serve the Lord with a thankful spirit.
And no matter how challenging, difficult, or even painful your life is right now, remember that God loves you so much that He has given the greatest gift - the gift of His Son on the Cross. And Jesus has won the greatest victory, rising from the dead and conquering death, hell, and the grave. God’s love is extended to you, and you can share in Christ’s victory. Thanks be to God you’ve been given another day and another chance to accept His invitation, obey the gospel, be washed of your sins, and inherit eternal life!