Far too much of the Christian's focus has little to no impact beyond the here and now. When Christians leave this world to meet the Lord, there are some things that will carry through to eternity (1 Timothy 6:19). One involves the thanksgiving we present to our Creator. In fact, death will heighten our desire and ability to offer thanks to God. Departed believers, along with angels and other spirit beings are already giving thanks to God in heaven. Our thanksgiving like theirs already will become more frequent and increasingly pure when we finally see our Saviour face-to-face. One day, we too will join that throng to thank the One who gave His everything for us. Why wait to face any regret of not having obeyed the Lord while on earth? Give God thanks now!
Far too many believers live with a skewed perspective concerning God's expectations. They desperately desire to do some “great thing” for the Lord. They ponder on thoughts of what would cause God to take notice of them and gain His favour. Would selling everything and going to the mission field help? Do they need to quit their job and go into full-time Christian service? Do they need to travel in order to spread the gospel far and wide? No doubt this serves as the Lord’s will for some, but one's intent needs to be God-focused and not self-centered. Regardless of one's calling, God has given Christians a great way to give Him a well-pleasing sacrifice. Today's passage mentions the fruit of our lips as a means of giving thanks to God and calls it a sacrifice of praise. Maybe the Lord does have “great things” in store for your life, but offering Him a sacrifice of praise serves as the best place to begin.
The Bible describes the last days of the church age as perilous times overwhelmed by excess of sin. However, dedicated Christians living within God’s will desire righteousness to reign. No matter, sins such as pride, blasphemy, despising the good, and loving pleasures more than God prevail during the last days. Believers are admonished not to get caught up in them and forewarned to turn away from these activities. These areas are all recognized as problems increasingly prevalent in today's societies, but sometimes “we miss the forest for the trees.” We recognize these obvious sins as severe and sore displeasing to the Lord; but in their midst, the Lord also mentions unthankfulness. This is another of the identifying marks of the end times. People have grown increasingly unthankful. Unfortunately, these earmarks are not limited to the world but have also infiltrated the church.
Preachers oftentimes wish for simpler days when people seemed more attuned to the things of God. Unfortunately, many believers have lost sight of how much we need God for our daily provisions. Far too many people today believe that their jobs provide their needs or that their efforts at their jobs have provided for their needs. Yet, the truth remains, God is the great provider. When people gathered food from their fields, they had a better understanding of how dependent they were upon God's hand of blessing. They thanked Him for providing the rain and the sunshine to make their crops to grow. They saw God's hand directly involved in the feeding of their families. We too ought to take time to give God thanks for the basic necessities and never neglect them simply because we have an easier life. Today's passage speaks specifically of food, but we ought to thank God for clothing and shelter as well.
Men should willingly give thanks “for all things” (Ephesians 5:20), but today's passage teaches a somewhat different truth: men should give thanks “in every thing.” The subtle differences between these two truths turn out to be quite profound. They express two different facets of the Christian's call to give thanks: give thanks to God for all things, but our thanks should take place in the midst of all things, good and bad. This means that we should not simply give God thanks once a certain trial of life has ended, but the thankfulness should take place while these trials are ongoing. Very few believers seem to recognize the importance of giving thanks for trials, but even fewer seem willing to give that thanks during the heat of the trial. Why is this so important? God says that the giving of this thanks, even in the midst of trials, is God’s will for our lives.
Our heartfelt giving of thanks should always coincide with our prayers to God. Today's passage from Philippians confirms this truth, as do a host of other passages (Daniel 6:10; Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:3; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:1). However, an unthankful spirit always affects one's prayer life eventually developing into a vicious repetitive cycle. A lack of prayer instills a lack of thankfulness. Those who fail to be thankful, fail to cultivate a consistent prayer life. Fortunately, this lack of thankfulness exposes our true problem which is a heart lacking humility. As our heart fills with pride, we fail to realize the goodness of God and our need to continually seek His face with this spirit of thankfulness. The solution involves conditioning ourselves to have a prayer life consisting of a genuine time of thanksgiving. True thankfulness should eliminate many of the prayers consisting of nothing but self-serving desires.
Men generally find time to thank God for things which they deem to be good or strictly positive. Yet, the Bible admonishes us to be thankful “for all things.” This means that we should thank God for blessings and trials; for health and sickness; for gain and loss; for peace and troubles. This may seem strange but becomes much more feasible when we understand the truth of Romans 8:28. God takes all things, good and bad, and makes them work together for our good. As such, we ought to be willing to give God thanks “for all things” knowing that He will, in turn, use them for our benefit. Failure to grasp this truth is a failure to trust God's goodness and wisdom. God can and will use even the negative things in your life to help you grow and develop as His child.
God's children are to faithfully follow God. We are to obey His will for our lives and follow the example of His Son. Today's passage provides some insight into the details of this calling. We see that believers are to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2) and avoid sins like fornication and covetousness (Ephesians 5:3). Additionally, believers are to have no part in foolish and inconvenient talking or jesting (Ephesians 5:4). These things are unprofitable and unbecoming to the child of God. Instead, the Lord would rather His people put forth their strength in giving Him thanks (Ephesians 5:4). God does not need His creation to thank Him but knows that a thankful people are the only ones who can truly live spiritual lives. Those who feel like they lack opportunity to give God thanks should cease from the sinful practices that monopolize their time and strength. Focus on God and a thankful spirit will blossom and mature.
The first chapter of Romans concludes with a list of horrendous sins. These sins reveal people who were completely void of the relationship God intended for His creation. Most believers could never imagine the possibility of being guilty of the sins of sodomy (Romans 1:26-27), murder (Romans 1:29), and hating the Lord (Romans 1:30). Yet, egregious sins begin through a rather simple process. The list in Romans reveals that the downward spiral begins when men fail to glorify God and refuse to give Him thanks (Romans 1:21). Sadly, many of God’s people are laying the groundwork for a downward spiral into further degradation. Becoming a child of God empowers the Christian but does not eliminate his freedom to choose his path, right or wrong. Unfortunately, traveling the wrong path can lead a Christian into the depths of inexpressible depravity.
Are you thankful for the people God has placed in your life? Most Christians could spend hours expressing their thankfulness for the godly influences. Oftentimes, however, we neglect to recognize the true blessings of these people. Once again, the apostle Paul provides an excellent example for each of us to emulate. Reading his epistles reveals an honour roll of thankfulness. He expressly thanked God for the believers at Rome (Romans 1:8), Ephesus (Ephesians 1:16), Philippi (Philippians 1:3), Colosse (Colossians 1:3), and Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:2). Paul realized the blessings of his associations with these believers and publickly thanked God for them. We too should be thankful for the godly influences God allows to cross our paths and influence our lives. Yet, the Bible goes a step further by indicating that Paul gave thanks “for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1).
