Articles
Lives of Gratitude
Twenty-six times in the Psalms, the writer either exhorts others to give thanks to the Lord, declares that he will offer thanks to the Lord, or he has already, or argues that He is worthy of men giving thanks to Him. But before we offer thanks to the Lord, there are some other things that must exist and/or take place. One will not be thankful without these factors, so we would benefit by taking the time to consider whether we can, or do, live lives of gratitude. So, what will enable us to be a thankful people?
Acknowledge the Existence of God. That may sound like a non sequitur [not related to the discussion at hand], but it is actually at the heart of why so many are not thankful. It is only logical that one will not offer thanks to a being he does not believe exists, is it not? So, for those who reject the existence of God, it only follows that they will then offer no thanks to Him.
The apostle Paul describes the Gentiles of old as ones who followed this pattern, initially noting that they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”, and “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:18-21). It wasn’t that they didn’t know God; it was that they didn’t want the true and living God, so they rejected the true and made for themselves their own, false, gods — mere idols. We see the consequences of their rejection of God in the following verses (Rom. 1:22-32), but for today let us note the fact that it led them to be ungrateful — thankless people.
A denial of the existence of God quite often leads men down the same road as the Gentiles where, “Professing [themselves] to be wise,” have no need of God. Without God, we have no Creator, so we theorize that all that exists in the material world cam about by nothing but time, chance, and some unbelievably coincidental events that exceed the limits of credulity. Men have theorized the material elements that comprise all inanimate objects and living creatures have either always existed, or came about by an incredible series of coincidental, chance events that made order out of chaos, intelligence from non-intelligence, life from non-living objects or elements, and morality, emotions, and ethics merely out of convenience. Without God behind anything and everything that is known to exist — simple things like rain for the plants to grow — we see it as merely “the natural order.” If we believe there is no God [no Creator] behind it all, it would seem rather silly to offer thanks to that Supreme Being we deny is real; indeed, many people do in fact see it as rather silly that so many people do offer thanks to Him. Many more not only think it is silly, but outright archaic, superstitious, or even dangerous. They are most certainly not among those who would offer thanks to God for anything.
Acknowledge the Worthiness of God. Not all men deny the existence of God, but not all who acknowledge His existence will offer Hi thanks, either. Some accept the existence of God as a reality, but not to the point they stop long enough to think about all the things that He has done for us that would motivate them to offer Him thanks. They are akin to the oblivious teenager who eats whatever he finds in the pantry or refrigerator without thinking who provided it, bought it, and prepared it, and who opens the dresser drawer to pull out his clothes for the day without stopping to think that someone made those clothes, bought those clothes, cleaned those clothes, and maybe even folded them and put them in the drawer. It is almost as if he thinks it all just magically appears and is there whenever he needs food or clothing, but doesn’t stop to think about how it got there or why.
To be thankful people, we have to not only acknowledge the existence of God, but acknowledge all that He has done for us, and continues to do for us. On the physical side, he “Who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains” (Psa. 147:8); that rain also causes our gardens and crops to grow for our food, and He is great and merciful enough that He “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). Job was right in asking, “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?” (Job 12:9, 10); we owe Him our very life! Is that not reason enough to offer continuous thanks to Him?
And on the spiritual side, we owe so much more gratefulness! The apostle Paul, in fact, wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:3-6). He understood we who are beneficiaries of the mercy and grace of God should, of all people on earth, be the most grateful for what has been done for us. We could go on and on, but suffice it to say that unless we see God as worthy of our thanks until we have no more breath.
I Must Know God. For the two previous points to be possible, I must, of necessity, know God. I must know He not only exists, but also “that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). I must know the fact that, as Solomon once said, “there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts” (1 Kings 8:23). I must know He is the “God, who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), so I can know that whatever He promises, it will be done. Among those promises for His people is the most comforting promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
I must also know that though “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), God “demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Yes, it is true: “God 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). I must know that the love and mercy of God are, in all reality, beyond my comprehension, but that it is so great it demands my gratefulness for what I can and do understand.
So, if I acknowledge the existence of God, if I truly know Him and all the great things He has done and continues to do, and if those things cause me to acknowledge Him as worthy of all my thanks, it is then that I can begin to offer thanks to God. It is then I will also likely realize I can live the rest of my earthly life giving thanks to Him and it would not be enough!
Friends and brethren, let us live lives of gratitude to God for all He is, for all He has done, and for all He continues to do for us. This will be demonstrated not just by our words of thanks, but by our lives. If we are truly thankful to God, then we will readily present ourselves “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is [our] reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). Having lived our earthly lives in gratitude, we will do the same eternally! — Steven Harper
