To give thanks is to express gratitude. We usually give thanks to someone deserving of gratitude. However, giving thanks to the Lord appears to be difficult to some of us because of our seemingly unending challenges. Some of us attribute our progress in life to our personal efforts. Some deny the existence of God whilst others take everything to be natural. So, why must we always thank the Lord?
Jesus taught us to give thanks
In Matthew 6: 9-10 Jesus taught his disciples to pray saying: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven…. This is a call to show gratitude to God the Father in heaven. To hallow God’s name means to treasure or sanctify God and it is expressed in worship, exaltation, honour and adoration. Thy kingdom come means acknowledge and reverence God as the creator and owner of the world. We do not pay bills for the gifts of life such as air, sun, rain, strength, health, life, etc. Thy will be done is a pledge to submit to God’s will unconditionally.
The first part of the Lord’s Prayer calls for gratitude and thanks. These instructions of Christ Jesus for us are not negotiable but a must. Refusal to acknowledge our creator is a denial of him. In this life, a denial of our landlord’s ownership would amount to forfeiture of our tenancy and would result in our eviction. Likewise, when we are ungrateful to God, he will abrogate our possession and evict us from his world by death. Unfortunately, the only available resident for us will be in hell fire, so we must give thanks.
God expects thanks
In Luke 17: 12-18 Christ Jesus told ten lepers to go and show themselves to the priests when they asked to be healed. However, on the way to the priests they were healed but only the foreigner among them returned to Jesus to say thanks. Jesus said, were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return to give praise to God except this foreigner? To Christ Jesus, God’s intervention however described deserves thanks.
Nothing comes by chance or accident. Nothing is also a matter of right but the pleasure and kindness of God. It was God’s workings through Christ Jesus that the lepers became cleansed because they obeyed Jesus’ instructions. The nine other lepers did not return to give thanks to God because they took it for granted that what Jesus did was a normal occurrence or that they were cleansed by mere coincidence of nature. Jesus’ question however shows otherwise. Do we also take God’s interventions for granted? We must give thanks always for each and every deed of God done directly or through others.
Giving thanks is scriptural
1 Thessalonians 5: 18 says give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Thanks must be given in all circumstances and not some circumstances. It is not permissive but mandatory. It is not predicated on our personal understanding or interpretation of God’s instructions or our circumstances but rather what God says. God knows why we must always give thanks. As mortals, we cannot always comprehend God’s ways or his instructions.
Luke 8: 10 says to you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. We cannot see all nor understand all around us as mortals except by the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must not complain or give excuses for not thanking God. 1 Corinthians 2: 14 says the unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. God expects us to give thanks because we handicapped spiritually in our faculties to evaluate God or to contend with him. God is Spirit so his ways are spiritually discerned. It is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us that we give thanks always.
Giving thanks work for our good
Romans 8:28 says we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. Every situation we face is within God’s power to turn it for our good. However, when we groan, we reject God’s offer to intervene and upon that we must not expect anything from God. Giving thanks to God invites God’s presence with us so we must thank God always.
1 Timothy 4:4 says for everything created by God is good; and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. We must not approbate and reprobate, saying God is good in food times yet say he is bad when evil days come. God is good in season and out of season. We are accountable for our situations so we must stop blaming God. If we give thanks in all circumstances, it shall be well with us.
How we receive any circumstances will determine our blessings. Most times, situations which we complain about become blessings to us later yet for lack of knowledge we condemn God rather for our future blessings. How would we feel if we are condemned for our good thoughts and deeds by the most deplorable and disadvantaged wretch? Hosea 4:6 says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. It is for our good to always give thanks to our creator even for what we do not know, see or hear.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, for our lives and all that surrounds us and connects with us; for your free gifts of life including the air we breathe, sun, rain and water, oceans, the moon, stars and the galaxies; for our health, sight, hearing and mind; for your warmth even in nature’s disasters; for your mercy and patience; for our homes, families, work, communities; for the harmony of live; for your providence in all things and circumstances visible and invisible; we are eternally grateful. Teach us to be grateful to you always and to our Father in heaven in your holy name, Amen!!
