Thanksgiving

Psalm 100; Colossians 3:15-17

Thankfulness is really a relative term. We use it so freely for all kinds of things. At school we even had to say thank you to the teacher who gave us cuts. Were we really thankful? No way. But we said it anyway because we had been commanded to. We did it out of obedience … but certainly not from the heart.

The Biblical Command

The Bible also COMMANDS us to be thankful. And it may surprise you to find that the Biblical teaching on living in the Spirit is very closely connected to thankfulness. Ephesians 5:18-20 (read) and the parallel passage which we read already from Colossians both make the connection between being filled with the Spirit and being thankful.

And these are not the only places where the New Testament commands us to give thanks whenever we pray:

• “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2)
• “Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
• “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:17)

Prayer and thanksgiving are almost inseparable in Biblical teaching.

And thanksgiving is a key to being filled with the Spirit.

But what exactly does it mean to give thanks? The New Testament Greek word for thanksgiving is the word charis. It is also the word for grace. That is maybe why we traditionally call our prayer of thanksgiving before meals “grace”. Grace and thanksgiving come from the same Greek word. So the Biblical idea is that thanksgiving is the proper response to God’s grace.

Biblical thanksgiving

But how can God command us to give thanks? In fact 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This means that if I am not giving thanks in everything then I am out of God’s will for my life.

But how can I do that? It is very easy and logical to give thanks to God when He blesses me with good things and I am full of rejoicing and thankfulness to Him anyway. When good things happen it’s easy to remember the teaching of James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”

But how can I give thanks if a friend is killed … or I contract cancer … or my house burns down?

The answer to that question begins by understanding that not everything that happens in this life is God’s will. 1 John 3:8 says “For this purpose Christ was revealed, to destroy the works of the evil one.” If Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil then obviously the devil is at work? How? Well John 10:10a tells us clearly that the devil comes to steal and kill and destroy. The devil’s works are stealing, killing and destroying. Having successfully introduced death, destruction and hatred into the world through tempting humanity to sin, the devil continues to use sin’s power to inflict suffering, death and loss on humanity. But not only does he do this … he also accuses God of being the one doing it. Why? So that we will not allow Jesus to destroy satan’s works in our lives. Every time we say … “Oh well … it is the will of God that I should suffer in this way …” we need to be very careful that we are not attributing the work of satan to God and therefore playing into the hands of satan.

As believers, when bad things happen, our attention needs to be focussed on the promises of God in Romans 8:28, “We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him.” This is the basis of our giving thanks. We do not give thanks for the bad thing that happened. But we do give thanks to God in faith that God is going to bring good out of what satan intended for evil. Our thanksgiving is for God’s faithfulness and God’s grace in the midst of our suffering.

So where is God’s grace in the midst of something bad happening in our lives? We give thanks that God is with us. We give thanks that God prevented something worse. We give thanks that God is at work in our situation for our good. We give thanks for the people God sends to help us. We give thanks for the victory God is going to help us to win … and the blessings the Lord is going to bring out of the pain. Ours is a thanksgiving in faith.

The Results of Thanksgiving

And the amazing and awesome truth is that when we come to God with a spirit of thanksgiving there are certain brilliant results: His presence in our lives increases … our fullness of the Spirit increases … and the Lord Jesus goes to work in our lives … not only to defeat the works of satan but also to fulfil the other half of John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” So Jesus turns what seemed to be a victory for satan into a victory for God’s Kingdom.

1.         Thanksgiving increases fullness

I see thanksgiving as part of a blessed cycle. Psalm 100 says that we should enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. This implies that both praise and thanksgiving lead us into a greater degree of God’s presence. The doorway to the greater presence of God is made up of the wood of praise and thanksgiving. One could almost say that God’s presence in our lives lies hidden behind our praise and thanksgiving.  Praising and thanking God opens the door to God’s greater presence with us.

Experience shows that when we thank and praise God, our awareness of God’s presence with us increases exponentially. But it is more than that. In reality when we willingly create the atmosphere that is welcoming to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes. And amazingly, when the Holy Spirit comes in greater fullness, He brings with Him a greater spirit of thanksgiving. The anointing of the Holy Spirit will continually manifest itself in thanksgiving that comes forth from our mouths.

2.         Thanksgiving increases faith

Someone once said that thanksgiving gets the wheels of faith moving in our spirit. Why? Well, because when we begin to recount what God has done in the past for which we are thankful, we don’t take very long to get excited about the possibilities of what God may just do in the future.

When we give thanks in the midst of suffering or difficulty we are forced to think about the grace of God in the midst of our situation. And right there and then our minds are beginning to tune in to the presence and power of God and to what God may begin to do in us in that bad situation. In this way thanksgiving increases faith.

Maybe this is why, when Philippians 4 commands us to present our requests to God with thanksgiving it also immediately instructs us to think about those things which are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. If you are in difficulty and you want to obey the Lord’s instruction to give thanks … take your mind off the bad part of your current situation and force your mind to find those things that are noble, pure, lovely, etc. And then give thanks. Before you know it, your faith will begin to rise!!

3.         Thanksgiving increases miracles

It may have escaped you before but when Jesus fed 5000 people with five loaves and two fishes, the miracle began when He “gave thanks” to the Father.

Thanksgiving often releases miracles. One could almost say that often our thanksgiving is the trigger that prepares us for the miracle-working power of God. Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus says, “I thank You Father that you have heard Me.” When Jesus healed ten lepers and only one returned to give Jesus thanks, Jesus responds to his thanks by telling him, “Your faith has made you whole.” That leper received an extra miracle through this thanksgiving that the others did not receive – they were just healed, but he was made whole – He was brought into a right relationship with God by his thanksgiving.

Conclusion

There is really not much more to be said. But there is a lot of thanksgiving to be done. As Christ-followers we are called to a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Yes there are many fringe-benefits to that lifestyle. But the main reason is not the spin-offs that there are in it for us. The main reason is God Himself, and His amazing grace.