The Object of Thanks

During the Thanksgiving season we are often encouraged to be thankful and that is a good biblical principle.  The Bibe says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:18). If you examine the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible, you will discover that the words “give” and “thanks" are repeated together 33 times.  In nearly all these cases “thanks” is more than just having a thankful attitude.  There is an object towards which thankfulness is directed.  You would assume that the object of thanks would be people.  Why?  Because people give gifts, do nice things for others, or express words of encouragement.  Common sense tells us that we should be thankful for what others do for us.  However, the object towards which we should be thankful in the verses with the two words mentioned is the Lord.  For example, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1).

In these verses there are a number of occasions where thanks to the Lord is accompanied with worship.  The Bible says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song” (Psalm 28:7).  Singing to God is a way to worship.  Scirpture also says, “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High” (Psalm 7:17). These “give thanks” verses identify several important actions that all of us can take this Thanksgiving season.

1)    Direct your thanks toward God.  You might thank the Lord for His provision for you – the food you enjoy, the air you breathe, the family of which you are a part, the salvation He provides for you, the forgiveness of your sins, or the many blessings you receive from God.

2)    Include worship as you give thanks.  Praise God, as you speak, sing or as you hum a tune.  A church service would be a good place for you to worship God.  However, wherever you are – at home, at work, or on a long walk – let a hymn or words of praise flow through your mind or be on your lips as you hum or sing or pray.  If you sing, do not worry about singing on key; just make a “joyful noise” (Psalm 100:1) before the Lord.

3)    Give thanks whatever is happening to you.  You may be discouraged and lonely or “down and out.”  Even if you find yourself in these circumstances, there are many things for which to thank God like the rain that provides refreshment, the sunshine you enjoy, the cool breeze on your face.  Let’s make the Lord the object of our thanksgiving.

This year take time to think about how your giving of thanks can be focused on God.  Let the things for which you are thankful be saturated with the Lord who is the object of your faith. 

Thanks for God's Love

There are many things for which we can give thanks.  Take time to read this entire list and think about them as you read them.  The subject of thanks could be: family, health, freedom, life, strength, dexterity, joy, happiness, home, food, safety, worship, instruction, help, friends, air, sun, rain, mountains, trees, flowers, gardens, sky, stars, breath, life, laughter, sight, hearing, taste, feeling, the Bible, godly examples, grass, animals, birds, water, clouds, rainbows, lightening, thunder, fish, oceans, sand, light, atmosphere, temperature, doctors, hospitals, emergency personnel, moonlight, nighttime. Even though this is a long list, many things could be added to it. 

One psalm from the Bible identifies something that God provides for us.  In the 26 verses of Psalm 136 the phrase, “his love endures forever” is expressed 26 times – once in each verse.  This thought suggests four things that the psalmist wanted everyone to know about God.

1)      First, “His” – The Source.  At the beginning of this phrase the psalmist directly identified that God was the foundation of the love for which he was thankful.  The gospel of John identifies the person, character, and the work of the love of God when it says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  The psalmist publicly expressed thanks to God as the source of love, and the action of love that God had revealed to him.

2)     Next, “Love” – The Focus.  The love of God was expressed sacrificially when Jesus died on the cross, thereby paying the penalty of our sin.  In John’s epistle he says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (I John 3:16).  So, the psalmist was grateful for the way God’s expressed his love through Jesus, His son.

3)    Then “Endures” – The Extent.  The love that God shares is a lasting love.  In the book of Lamentations, the writer explains God’s love this way: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).  Similarly, Jeremiah says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).  These expressions reveal the magnitude of God’s love for mankind.

4)     Finally, “Forever” – The Duration.  The extent of God’s love goes on and on.  It has no interval of time when it discontinues. The psalmist said, “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).  This quality of God’s love never wears out. The psalmist was grateful for this kind of love, and we should be too.

Think about these questions: (1) Have you experienced God’s love?  (2) Are you glad God loves you?  (3) Have you taken time to thank God for his love?  (4) Are you grateful that God’s love endures forever?  As you think about God’s love take time today to give thanks to God for the love that he has shown to you.

Get Ready. Get Set. Give Thanks!

What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things in your possession that you thanked God for today?  If that were the case, what might you have to enjoy or share?  If you are honest with yourself, most likely you could count on one hand what you thanked God for yesterday and probably have some fingers left.  By human nature we are an ungrateful people.  We so easily fall into the rut of thinking that things will be much the same today as they were yesterday, so we get in the “lean back and relax” mode.  If it were not for the grace of God, we would be woefully lacking in many of the necessities of life.

Usually, the Thanksgiving season is the time of year when people express thanks in some manner.  It is good for us to give thanks.  The Bible helps express this importance when the Apostle Paul instructs people to give thanks.  Notice that along with thankfulness, joyfulness and prayer are also included.  He says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18).   In another place he says, “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything” (Ephesians 5:20).  Look carefully at the qualifications for these three activities.

1)      Joyfulness is to constantly be a part of our lives

2)      Prayer should be made repeatedly

3)      Thanksgiving should be expressed in all situations

According to these verses the giving of thanks is not to be reserved for just one season of the year.  Thanks to God ought to overflow from our hearts and be expressed from our lips every day of the year.  Here are three questions to ask yourself as you work your way through the Thanksgiving season.

 1) Am I joyful always?

2) Do I Pray continually?

3) Do I Give thanks in all circumstances?

Giving thanks should be a daily activity.  Let’s make sure that the fruit of our lips express thanks to God and the actions of our hands and feet show our thankfulness to Him and to others.  Let’s not relegate the giving of thanks to Thanksgiving Day in November.  So, Get ready. Get set. Give thanks!  And – and give thanks again and again.

The Beginning of Thanksgiving

During the month of November we celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  Have you ever wondered where the tradition of giving thanks began?  Throughout history many groups, including the people of Israel, have celebrated a bountiful harvest with a thanksgiving ceremony.  One of the festivals the Israelites celebrated had three different names.  It was called the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths, or the Feast of Ingathering.  This feast marked the completion of the harvest and commemorated the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness.  Along with other feasts, this feast did several things.

• It preserved the religious faith of the nation and the unity among the people.
• It was a constant reminder of the way God had delivered them from difficulties in the past.
• It promoted gratitude to God among the people and acknowledged their trust in Him as their wonderful Provider.
• It gave an opportunity for the Children of Israel to show reverence for God.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, let’s be reminded of the opportunity we have in this great country of ours to exercise our faith and worship God.  Let’s thank God for the way He constantly delivers us and preserves us, even through difficulties.  And let’s commit ourselves to exercise our trust in God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th President of the United States, said the following in one of his Thanksgiving proclamations.  “We have been a favored people; we ought to be a grateful people.  We have been a most blessed people; we ought to be a most thankful people.”

Psalm 100 was written as a psalm for giving thanks.  As you participate in Thanksgiving activities this season, let this psalm be the expression of your heart to God: “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.  Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the LORD is God.   It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Ps 100:1-5)

Action Permeated With Thanks

People take different kinds of action every day.  Some action is the result of a habit – like brushing teeth.  Some action is planned – such as taking a much-needed vacation.  Other action transpires in the spur of a moment – for example, when a new idea comes to mind on which a person decides to act quickly.

Some action is general in nature, some could be characterized as evil and other action as godly.  Godly action – that which pleases God – can be found in the Bible.  Every time scripture states a command, people can be assured that God wants them to take that specific action.  One God-pleasing action found in the New Testament in the book of Ephesians is the giving of thanks.  The Apostle Paul explains this action when he says: “Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

This 17-word sentence clarifies the things that should permeate the action that needs to be taken all year long, but particularly during the Thanksgiving season.

1)    Giving thanks should be perpetual – “always.”  The text says that giving thanks is something that should be done at all times - not just once during the Thanksgiving season and then forgotten.  Thanks should be given continually, constantly, and repeatedly. 

2)    Giving thanks should be divinely focused – “to God the Father.”  Thanks is often given to people who have done something nice for someone else.  Of course, these people need to be thanked, but thanks should also be directed toward God.  He should be the object of thanksgiving.

3)    Giving thanks should be comprehensive – “for everything.”  Thanks is not complete unless it includes thankfulness for all things. Grant Richison said, “All things includes both bane and blessing, adversity and benefit, for the small and the big. We give thanks for the miserable things, the things we cannot understand, as well as the good. In other words, we surrender to the will of God no matter how it hurts. Only a Spirit-filled person can do this.”

4)    Giving thanks should be spiritually qualified – “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  In other words, thanks in the name of Jesus represents everything that characterizes Christ as well as all that He has done for mankind including providing salvation and eternal life.

Warren Wiersbe, an American Christian clergyman, said, “The word gratitude comes from the same root word as grace.  If we have experienced the grace of God, then we ought to be grateful for what God brings to us.”  Let’s let our thanksgiving permeate at that we do both now and throughout the year.

Thanksgiving All the Time

Thanksgiving is just around the corner so let’s think about a verse from the Bible that reminds us to be thankful.  Psalm 95:2 says, “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”  Who is “us?”  Who is “him?”  What do we need to do?  Since we are thinking about giving of thanks an additional question might be, “When are we to give thanks?”

1)     The exhortation is for people.  “Let us” refers to all people (everyone) but particularly God’s people – those who have developed a personal relationship with the creator of the universe.

2)     We are encouraged to take action.  “Come” suggests that we need to make sure we are ready, willing, and able to take the steps that are important to do what God wants us to do.

3)     We are urged to come to the right person.  The “Him” in this verse is the “Lord.” The acknowledgment suggests that God should be the sole object of our thanks.

4)     We are challenged to have a grateful heart.  Our gratefulness is suggested by the words “With thanksgiving.”  It is easy for us just to be happy and enjoy our surroundings.  However, a grateful heart is one that is extremely thankful for a God who is concerned about us and cares for us. As a result, we should be ready to offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

5)     We are exhorted to worship and praise.  We are to “Extol him” by lifting up God’s name, admiring Him, and bowing in his presence because he is worthy of our praise and honor.

6)     We are advised to share our expression.  That sharing is to come through “Music and song.” These are ways that help our emotions turn to God whether it be with a melodious voice or a harmonious instrument.  Our expression to God should come from the grace of God in our hearts and spiritual joy that reveals our delight in Him.

When should we give thanks?  On Thanksgiving Day?  As soon as Halloween is over?  When the calendar tells us it is the time of the year to give thanks?  This verse does not suggest a specific day or time of the year to give thanks.  So, we should be ready to express our thanks to God all the time throughout the year.  Why not begin your thanksgiving today?

Thanks be to God

It is almost impossible to come to the month of November without thinking about Thanksgiving.  Of course, Thanksgiving is a national holiday and it is used for everything from food to sports events to family get-togethers.  All these things are fun, but the real reason for Thanksgiving is to set aside a special time to give thanks to God for His bountiful provisions for us.

When the Apostle Paul’s heart was full of thanksgiving he expressed his thanks to God.  He thanked God for Jesus, who was God’s love gift to mankind.  “Thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57).  Paul also gave thanks to God for the privilege of spreading the Good News of the Gospel.  “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in the triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (II Corinthians 2:14).

What about your response during this Thanksgiving season?  Is your heart full of thanksgiving to God?  Are you ready and open to give thanks to your Heavenly Father?  I encourage you to personally thank God, but I also encourage you to share your thanks to God with someone else.  Let them know of your gratefulness to God for Christ, for the victory that you have in Him, and for the opportunity to let the light of God’s love be spread from you to other people.

Overflowing with Thankfulness

Probably the most important part of November is Thanksgiving.  During this holiday season we enjoy family and friends and want to be with them.  We are also happy for the food we have to eat and thoroughly enjoy the bountiful provision and nourishment we receive.  We appreciate the wonderful country in which we live and delight in the freedom we enjoy.  All of these things are good and wonderful, but when it comes to thanksgiving, Scripture tells us that the expression of thankfulness needs to be directed towards God and our thankfulness needs to be a continual and an ongoing process in our lives.

Focus of Thankfulness.  Notice the thankfulness that the Apostle Paul had when he says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3).  He appreciated the people to whom he was writing; they were great friends of his and helped him during his time of need.  However, his thankfulness was expressed, not to these people, but to God.  When God is the focus of our thankful spirit, it is He who receives praise and honor for that which we enjoy.  By our act of thankfulness expressed to God we acknowledge our dependence on Him.  We acknowledge that we are needy people and that He is the only One who can meet the deepest needs of our hearts.

Extent of Thanks.  In another portion of Scripture, Paul shares these words - "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness“ (Colossians 2:6-7).  Thankfulness is to be more than just the expression of the word “thanks”.  Thanks is to be in excess; it is to overflow.  When I purchase a bag of popcorn or an order of French fries, I like the container in which this food comes to be more than full.  I want it to overflow with the delicious morsels.  The same idea is expressed in Paul’s challenge.  He wants people to be thankful, but he wants their thankfulness to overflow.  Our thankfulness ought always to be in excess.  It should abound in both quality and quantity.

As you enjoy Thanksgiving this year my prayer for you and your family is that you will concentrate on these two aspects of thankfulness – (1) Let your thanks be expressed to God and (2) Let your thankfulness be characterized by an abundant overflow.  Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Remembering

Besides Mother’s Day there are two other very special days on the May calendar – Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day.  Both of these days are directed toward honoring the people who are connected with military services.  Armed Forces Day takes place on the third Saturday of the month and is a day to salute everyone in all branches of our nation’s military.  These men and women can be called upon at a moment’s notice to perform a risky and perilous mission for our country.   President Harry Truman announced the observance of this day in a presidential proclamation in 1950.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was designed as a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s military service.  Although observance of this day started much earlier, in 1971 Congress officially designated the last Monday in May to celebrate this day.  As we remember men and women who have given their lives, we are reminded of the famous war poem “In Flanders Fields” which was written by Major John McCrae, a surgeon in the Canadian Army.  In the absence of the chaplain, McCrae performed the funeral ceremony for a soldier who had been killed.  The next day, while looking across the nearby cemetery he penned the poem, which only took him about 5 minutes to place the words on paper.  Dissatisfied with his scribbling, he threw it away only to have a fellow officer retrieve the paper and send it to newspapers in England where it was published.  The poem reads:

       In Flanders Fields the poppies grow – Between the crosses row on row,

       That mark our place; and in the sky – The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.  We are the Dead. Short days ago –

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.  If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow – In Flanders fields.

We are encouraged to take time during May to show honor and respect to those who are serving our country and for those who have given their lives for our freedom.  The scriptures remind us to, “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (I Peter 2:17).  We are also encouraged to “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor” (Romans 13:7).  We are also told, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10).

As you reflect on the great sacrifices made by our military men and women, offer a prayer of thanks to God.  If someone in your family, or a friend, has given their life in the service of our country, talk to another member of your family and together thank God for them.  At a family gathering you may want to observe a few minutes of silence and then offer a prayer of thanksgiving.  Above all, let’s show honor and respect to those who served our country and are still serving in harm’s way.

Reason for Thanks

During the Thanksgiving season we are encouraged to give thanks.  That is important because we ought to be people who are thanks givers.  As we express our thankfulness to God we usually do so by rehearsing a list of material blessings that we enjoy such as food, health, clothes, church, friends, or family.  All these are important blessings for which we ought to be thankful.  However, our thanksgiving should be more than simply giving thanks for material items.  The psalmist says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 106:1).

The motivation and focus of thanksgiving should be God Himself just because He is good.  Goodness is the very nature of God.  In order to explain this goodness the psalmist says, “His love endures forever.”  In other words, the goodness of God has to do with the outpouring of His grace, love, and mercy to you and me in our sin and our need.  In spite of the fact that we don’t deserve to be recipients of His goodness, we are.  “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Isn’t that amazing?  God’s goodness, through His grace and love, is available to each of us in abundant measure and it is there for us to personally receive.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are Go’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2;8-10).  Let’s thank God for our material blessings, but let’s also thank Him for being good to us so we can possess and experience eternal life.  “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of god so that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:11-13).

Have you received God’s goodness?  You can be a recipient of that wonderful goodness by praying a simple pray of faith to receive Jesus as your Savior.  Do it today and then make sure you give thanks to God because He is good.