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Thinking and Thanking
This week, many will be celebrating the national holiday known as Thanksgiving, and many will gather with friends and/or family for dinner and time together, often with ones we don’t get to see as often as we would like. For many, it is traditional to stop and think about the many blessings enjoyed and offer thanks for those blessings. It is a worthwhile endeavor, and it would be beneficial for all to be thankful more than just once a year!
Thankfulness is something every disciple should willingly practice, and an attitude that should be a part of who we are, as disciples. Consider some of the Bible passages that exhort disciples to be thankful:
“But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (Eph. 5:3, 4)
“giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20)
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Col. 3:17)
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (Col. 3:15)
“in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess. 5:18)
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” (1 Tim. 2:1, 2)
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Heb. 13:15)
From the negative side of things, the Scriptures also condemn, and warn us about, those who are unthankful (2 Tim. 3:1, 2; Rom. 1:21). It is not coincidental that the “unthankful” Are mentioned among, and sometimes equated with, the ungodly and unrighteous of this world; a worldly, material focus quite often leads us to be an ungrateful and thankless society who fail to recognize life’s many blessings, much less the one who provides these daily blessings.
To avoid becoming, or to cease being, one of the unthankful ones, it would be beneficial to stop and think, and then stop and be thankful, for it is when we stop and consider where we are, what we have, and what we have been given that we can be truly and sincerely thankful. Let’s think about a few things, shall we?
Your Circumstances/Situation. Now, some of you might question the suggestion to be thankful in your current circumstance or situation since I don’t know where you are or what is happening in your life right now, but that makes the point: You can be thankful even in circumstances that are not ideal or even pleasant. Your willingness to be thankful comes down to your attitude.
The apostle Paul was one who exemplified this attribute, made clear when he wrote, “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Phil. 4:12); he had learned to accept and be content with whatever the situation was, whether he was enjoying an abundance or suffering lack. To put it concisely, he wrote, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11).
This is the same apostle Paul who would write about sufferings and dangers we could only hope to never experience (2 Cor. 11:22-33), and also write, describing those burdens, as “our light affliction, which is but for a moment” (2 Cor. 4:17). He was able to have this attitude because he had hope of something he saw as “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” You see, contentment and thankfulness in even the most difficult of earthly circumstances is possible when you have hope of something far greater, and a hope of relief and rest from the troubles of this life. Without that hope, it is no wonder so many cannot see reasons to be thankful.
Your Brethren. I realize that, sometimes, brethren may feel like Elijah, who once told God, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts…[but] I alone am left” (1 Kings 19:10, 14). It is in such times we need to remember, as God pointed out to Elijah, he was not alone (1 Kings 19:18). And while it may seem, sometimes, like no one else on earth has gone through what I am going through, I must remember “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13), and I must remember that when my spiritual adversary seems to be focusing all his attention on me, I must continue to “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Pet. 5:8, 9). No, I am not alone; I have brethren around the world, and they know exactly what I am going through.
Again, the apostle Paul stands as an example of one who was thankful for his brethren and for the fact he was not alone in his faith. He would write to the brethren at Rome, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all” (Rom. 1:8); he wrote to the brethren in Philippi, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy” (Phil. 1:3, 4); and he would write Timothy, “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day” (2 Tim. 1:3). Paul was thankful for brethren everywhere, for he was comforted in knowing there were many of “like, precious faith” who walked the same walk and ran the same race as he, and was never alone. They supported him (Phil. 4:15-18), and he could count on their prayers for him (Philemon 1:22; Eph. 6:18, 19).
God and Christ. And how could a disciple go to God in prayer and not be thankful for Him and for Jesus Christ, His Son? When we stop and think about where we would be without His love, His mercy, His grace, and His longsuffering, and without the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, I don’t know how we could be anything but thankful! It was God who “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16); it was Jesus who “loved us and given Himself for us” (Eph. 5:2); and, more importantly, it was Jesus “who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). How can I not be thankful for God and for Christ when this is the case?
There is so much more that could be written on this, but suffice it to say that without God and Christ, none of us would be here; without the love and mercy and grace of God, none of us could be saved. Without the revealed word of God, none of us would know how to be saved, much less even that we were lost! Paul said it well when he wrote, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15); truly, words cannot fully express the greatness of His gift of salvation.
As you gather with friends and family [or even with strangers] this Thanksgiving, take the time to seriously consider your blessings, and be genuinely thankful for what you have in your life, and for the hope of what is yet to come. The world will be a better place when we do. — Steven Harper
