Giving Thanks

 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

To give thanks means to express gratitude and relief. To be glad for something that has either happened or not happened.

In the United States, the holiday of “Thanksgiving” is a day that was started by the early colonists to give thanks to God for safety, for their health, and for their love and faith towards God for His many blessings. But that is not the only day that we need to be thankful. We can be thankful everyday, thanking Him continuously for everything He does. 

One time someone wanted us to haul a load of firewood to them. So we went out, cut and split a full trailer of wood and delivered it. Well, a very short time afterwards, maybe a week later, the brakes on our vehicle went completely out. A brake line had gotten old and had broken, leaving it without any brakes at all. At that moment we realized God’s blessings towards us. That brake line could have broken when we had the fully loaded trailer behind us, and we could have been in a serious accident, but it didn’t. We still talk about this many years later, and we are extrememly thankful to Him for keeping us safe.

Every day is a blessing from God. Whether the sun shines or whether it rains, we need to remember that everything happens according to God’s will, and we need to lift up our thanks to Him for His incredible wisdom.

We might not always understand why things happen the way that they do, but God does, and that is all that we need to know. How does the sun continue to burn after 6000 years without consuming itself? I don’t know, but God does, and that is all that I need to know. But I am thankful for the warmth that it provides. I am thankful for the food that He grows for us all to eat, and the water that He has created for us all to drink. 

Everything that God does has a purpose, and we just need to accept that and thank Him for His wisdom.

We can thank Him through our prayers. When we communicate to God when we pray, we can show Him our love and appreciation for everything He has done. We can also thank Him by singing a song to the Lord, lifting up a sacrifice of praise to Him. 

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13:15

“IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH:” Psalm 92:1

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul warned that in the last days that people would be “unthankful.” They won’t be thankful for the things that they have. They won’t thank God in their prayers. Don’t be like these people. Show God your love, and show Him your thankfulness and appreciation for everything He does.

In Christ

Andrew