This week America once again celebrates Thanksgiving. For most people it simply means time spent with family, eating a specially prepared dinner together. The question, of course, is why we do it at all? We may have the easy answer: to give thanks.
But I do wonder how many individuals and families actually take the time to reflect on the things they are truly thankful for. And when we say we are “thankful” are we expressing it to an actual “recipient”? That is, do we really have a person in mind to whom we consciously and intentionally direct our thanks or are we just “thankful” (meaning, “happy”) for what we have and the things we enjoy? It’s like a child receiving a gift and running off without really thinking about the one who gave the gift. The thankfulness is really focused on the experience of enjoying something, not on the person who made that experience happen.
Scripture is filled with expressions of thanksgiving that is deliberately directed toward God. Often it comes in the form of worship and praise, appreciating and honoring him. “I will thank the LORD profusely, in the middle of a crowd I will praise him” (Psalms 109.30 NET). “Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5.18 HCSB). Thanksgiving is a response to God for his gracious action toward us or for us. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16.34 NIV). Lack of gratitude means the failure to acknowledge God as the source of all the benefits one enjoys. Paul describes such ungrateful people thus: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Romans 1.21 ESV).
The basic form of gratitude is by offering words of praise. “Let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13.15–16 NLT). But we should not stop there for the greatest form of thanks is in a life that is lived in a manner that honors the Lord. As Martha Zimmermann writes: “The real celebration of Thanksgiving is thanksliving. The best way to thank God for the gift of life is to live your life in a spirit of gratitude. The apostle Paul puts it this way: “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him” (Romans 12.1 NLT).
This Thanksgiving … and beyond, don’t just say, “I’m thankful.” Express your gratitude to God, and do it through thanksliving.
—Keith Jainga