THE MEANING OF THANKFULNESS
Thankfulness is a mental and/or verbal expression of one's acknowledgement and appreciation of God's person, His grace, blessings, and sovereign work in one's life and the world.
Some key ideas related to thankfulness are: biblical understanding, trust, humility and grace, the right focus and values, and joy. It is through the possession and function of these qualities that we become thankful.
Thanksgiving is more common in the psalms. About twenty psalms command or invite Israel to sing songs of thanksgiving. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good" is a common refrain ( 106:1 ; 118:1 ; 136:1 ). Some psalms specify a reason, linking thanksgiving with Acts of love and worship, exhorting worshipers to glorify God with thanksgiving ( 69:30 ), come before him with thanksgiving ( 95:2 ), enter his gates with thanksgiving ( 100:4 ), sing to the Lord with thanksgiving ( 147:7 ). Perhaps surprisingly, many cries for aid and laments conclude with thanksgiving (individual cries for help in 7:17 ; 28:7 ; 35:18 ; 52:9 ; 54:6 ; 86:12 ; communal cries in 79:13 ; 106:47 ). In the New Testament the vocabulary for thanksgiving and gratitude expands and expressions increase. The verb eucharisteo and the cognate noun eucharistia together appear about fifty-five times. Thanksgiving is a motive for Christian life and conduct, a general attitude toward both the blessings and trials of life, a central component of prayer, and the context for the proper use of material things. So, why should we be thankful?
SOME GENERAL REASONS WHY WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL
1. Because it honors God. When we are thankful, we recognize that God exists, and we are acting on the reality of His life as the very source and means of ours. True thankfulness recognizes our total dependence on God and stems from realizing that everything going on in our lives and all we have is the product of God's sovereign control, infinite wisdom, purposes, grace, and activity (2 Cor. 4:15).
2. Because it is commanded in Scripture. First, the Psalms are filled with the call to give thanks. An example is Ps. 100:4 which says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Then Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything keep on giving thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (my translation). In Colossians, he twice gives the command to be thankful (3:15, 17).
3. Because of the dangerous consequences of thanklessness: Thanklessness is dangerous to self and others. It dishonors God and leads to proud humanism or dependence on man rather than God (Rom. 1:21). In addition, it leads to bitterness, complaining, and a joyless life (Heb. 12:15). Since thankfulness is a response to the grace of God, its opposite, bitterness with its companions, complaining and grumbling, are the product of an unthankful heart that fails to properly respond to God in faith to His person, infinite wisdom, grace and purposes. Thanklessness promotes pettiness and occupation with self, people, and problems. That in turn creates depression and feelings of hopelessness because we become focused on our problems rather than on the Lord. But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place (2 Cor. 2:14). This verse in 2 Corinthians demonstrates that a thankful and God-focused person counts on God and His triumph and will manifests the sweet fragrance of a life filled with the knowledge of Christ rather than the spirit of bitterness and complaining. Thankfulness, then, becomes a spiritual barometer; it is an evidence of the condition of our spiritual life and value system, which should give us a warning if we have ears to hear (Eph. 5:4 & 20)
THE TIME FOR THANKSGIVING (THE WHEN AND WHERE)
First, we should give thanks whenever we pray. Scripture teaches us, both by illustration (Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:3-4; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2) and by direct admonition (Phil. 4:6f; Col. 4:2), that prayer should generally be accompanied by or offered in a context of thanksgiving. The reason is perhaps found in the very nature of thanksgiving! Thanksgiving turns our eyes from our problems and ourselves to the Lord that we might focus on Him and His sovereign grace. It helps us to see life through the perspective of God's person, principles, promises, plan, provisions, and purposes. Then, as this happens, this upward focus promotes faith and courage in the face of the trying and painful situations that we all eventually face to one degree or another. Second, we should always give thanks in everything and for everything (Eph. 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:18). Now why? In addition to the reasons already given, it helps us to focus on the sovereignty of God and the fact that He is in control and working all things together for good regardless of how they may seem to us in our limited perspective (Rom. 8:28, 29; Jam. 1:2-4; Gen. 50:19-20). While all things may not be good, God uses them for good, the good of making us like His Son. Also, since a spirit of thanksgiving keeps our eyes on the Lord, it also keeps us alert and promotes an eagerness to go to God in prayer to lay our burdens and those of others at His feet (Ps. 68:19-20; Col. 4:2). We should always give thanks because it protects us against the dangers and consequences of thanklessness mentioned above. Read more: https://bible.org/seriespage/6-reas...
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