Thanksgiving is the means by which blessings return to glorify God (see 2 Cor. 4:15)
It is a strange thing indeed that both the United States and Canada have official government declarations setting aside days for Thanksgiving to God. Canada’s official proclamation states that it should be “…a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”
Strange because of the fact that many people are unsure who to express thanks to! Media announcers struggle with trying to encourage people to be thankful without actually saying to whom those prayers ought to be addressed. Is it our forefathers, our parents, our government, each other? In our politically correct society, we dare not suggest that God would be the appropriate recipient of such thanksgiving!
Thankfully, as Christians, we have no such uncertainty. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that the God of heaven is the giver of every good gift and is deserving of abundant thanksgiving from His people. Nevertheless, it is good to remind ourselves of just why we ought to be thankful.
Because all that we have comes from God.
Paul asked the Christians in Corinth, “What do you have that you did not receive…?” (1 Cor. 4:7). We do well to ask ourselves that question. Most of the material blessings of this life we have obtained by virtue of where, and to whom, we were born. How very different our life would be had we been born and raised in a third-world shantytown.
Someone might argue, “I started out dirt-poor and so everything I have achieved is by virtue of my hard work!” That may be true at one level, but who gave you the health and stamina to be able to work hard? Where did you get the brain power to program the computer or the hand co-ordination to wield the scalpel or the ability to exercise your own special skills that have enabled you to enjoy a prosperous lifestyle? They have all been given by the grace of almighty God. It is not about us. Many who have enjoyed great success in business or in their jobs will admit that they happened to be “in the right place at the right time.” Who arranged that?
While this fact is true of our material blessings, how much more is it the case in the spiritual realm! The greatest blessing we have received from God is our salvation through Christ. Paul describes Christ as “God’s unspeakable gift,”—indescribable, too great for words. It is certainly “not of ourselves.” God, as the ultimate benefactor, gives us what we could never obtain for ourselves.
Not only is this true regarding salvation, but also concerning the service we render to God. Paul reminds us that “… it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Php. 2:13). Anything that we do for God is because of His Spirit working in us. We are but the earthen vessels or “clay pots” (2 Cor. 4:7 NIV).
When I was a young Christian, I read T. Ernest Wilson’s autobiography, Angola Beloved. It is an amazing story of a life of faithful service for the Lord in the heart of Africa. A short time after finishing it, I met Mr. Wilson for the first time. Nervously, I approached this great man of God and gushed out words of praise and wonder as I rehearsed some of the incidents I had read in his book. I will never forget his response. “We are very thankful.” I am not sure what I was expecting but, in my immaturity, the thought struck me, “God should be thankful to you!”
But Mr. Wilson had it exactly right. He knew a vital truth—it is all of God! Whatever we accomplish for God, it is really because of His working in us. So Mr. Wilson could look back over his life of service and be thankful. God had chosen to shine out of his earthen vessel.
All we have comes from God. All we are is because of God’s working in us, and, hence, we ought to be full of thanksgiving to Him.
Why thanksgiving can be difficult?
While it is indeed natural to be thankful for good things, how can we be thankful for the unpleasant things in life; for the very bad things that sometimes occur? “In every thing give thanks!?”
How can we be thankful for the cancer that strikes down a young mother in the prime of her life or for the drunk driver that causes havoc and death by his actions or countless other similar circumstances?
We can be thankful, if not for these situations, but in them because we know God is at work. In some way that we maybe can’t even glimpse or dream of, He is using the tragedy for His glory. “All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Or as a recent song put it, “When you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.”
It would be wrong to trivialize what may well be intense suffering that some are presently experiencing. I can’t personally enter into your situation and know the pain and grief that you may be feeling. But the Lord Jesus can! What does it tell us about God, that He voluntarily identified with us and willingly allowed Himself to suffer? In fact He became “a man of sorrows” and “acquainted with grief.” And so it is that as our great high priest, He exhorts us to come to Him for help in our time of need. With that divine help, we are able to give thanks in the midst of trials.
We also need to remember that God has not promised us a life of bliss, rather just the opposite. And we dwell in a world scarred by sin, under the curse, and destined for destruction. It is only by God’s mercy that we are spared from far greater suffering. One of the lessons we learn from Church history is that persecution, poverty, and suffering are the norm for God’s people, not the freedom and prosperity that we enjoy in 21st century North America.
1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us that “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful…” The context is the example of the people of Israel and their trials. In other words, you are not the first believer in history to suffer. You are not the first to lose a job or face health issues or whatever other trial. Others already have, and they, by God’s grace, have made it through!
The danger of an unthankful heart
It is significant to note that ingratitude is a mark of departure from God. Both in Romans 1 and 2 Timothy 3, it is listed among the sins of those who reject God, seemingly occurring early in the process of turning away from the Saviour. Certainly this ought to serve as a strong warning to any who find in themselves a lack of thanksgiving. By contrast, thankfulness is intimately linked with the Spirit-filled life in both Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3.
Thankfulness, while it is commanded, ought to come naturally. With Mr. Wilson there was no sense of “it is the right thing to say.” It came straight from his heart. We can go through life, complaining and bemoaning the fact that our lives are not as we would like them to be, or we can be content, accepting the lot that God has given us and giving Him thanks for it.
We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ! We have been delivered from the power of darkness, granted new life, assured of an inheritance reserved for us in heaven, and given the prospect of being with Christ and transformed into his image. We have peace with God, the assurance of sins forgiven, freedom from condemnation, and a reason to live! How can we not be thankful?
“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).
Be Thankful!