Give Thanks
Give Thanks
J. Mike Minnix
Introduction
In advertising its Thanksgiving dinner, a restaurant used the following ad, 'Thanksgiving made easy.' Actually, thanksgiving is not all that easy. The fact is we find it quite easy to complain - to see the underside of every situation.
A truly thankful heart requires commitment and tenacity. You know, I'm sure, that all of us are prone to be selfish, proud, and arrogant. You would not think that God needs to tell us to be thankful; however, the Bible commands gratitude because it is thankfulness is necessary if we are to be all that God intends us to be.
Colossians 3:15-17 tells us plainly and clearly that whatever we do, we are to do it with all our heart adding thanksgiving to God at all times.
Thanksgiving would be a lot easier if we only knew how blessed we really are - even when circumstances aren't necessarily to our liking. For example, I heard the story of an elderly man who climbed up on his roof to make some repairs. He had a hammer in his hand and some nails in his mouth. Later a neighbor heard him praising the Lord. "Hallelujah," the man shouted, "praise the Lord!" Curious, his neighbor asked, "What's all the shouting about?" The man repairing his roof said, "I swallowed a nail and dropped my hammer." His friend replied, "Well, I can't see why you're happy about that." The old man said, "O, but I am happy! I'm thankful I didn't drop the nail and swallow the hammer!"
Today we need to think about being grateful. This subject is one mentioned often in Scripture and for good reason, as we shall see.
I. The Sin of Ingratitude
Among the list of sins, a lack of gratitude would certainly not rank anywhere near the top of our list. Yet, the command and instruction to be thankful is mentioned in Scripture again and again. Often it is spoken to us as a direct command from the Lord. It is not a suggestion but an imperative in almost every case.
The Bible even tells us that a lack of gratitude will be one of the increasing perils in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-2). A lack of thankfulness has different dimensions, which we can detail in three forms, all of which violate the Lord's continual command in Scripture to be thankful.
A. Forgetfulness (Neglect)
In Psalm 103:2 we are told not to forget the Lord's benefits. Forgetfulness of God's blessings is a terrible sin, for it is a awful thing to take for granted all that God has done for us. Forgetfulness is not rebellion, it is neglect. Yet, it is sinful and dangerous.
Do you realize that neglect of God is a sin which will cause many to miss heaven. Look at Hebrews 2:3, which states, "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him."
To ignore or neglect God's gift of life through Christ leaves one in his sins. You do not have to be in rebellion against God to end up in hell, you need only to forget or neglect to receive God's gift in Christ.
When it comes to giving thanks, the mere neglect of it is a sin for us. You don’t have to fuss at God to be in error, but only to neglect giving Him the thanks and glory He rightful deserves.
B. Selfishness (Pride)
Hezekiah committed the sin of being ungrateful to God through selfishness. Look at 2 Chronicles 32:25 which reads ...
"But Hezekiah's heart was proud, and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD's wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem."
A lack of gratitude is a sure sign that we are full of self. Remember, pride goes before the fall and we are told that the Lord keeps the proud far from Him This means means that the Lord does not reveal Himself in power to those who do not have for fail to express proper gratitude.
C. Bitterness (Murmuring, Grumbling)
The final step in a lack of gratitude is murmuring and grumbling. To act with murmuring and grumbling means that we have failed to recognize the ways in which God has blessed us.
I read somewhere the story of a man whose job was to transport mentally ill people to an appropriate hospital. After delivering a patient one day, he was walking to his car when a voice called out, "Hey you!" The voice came from an upper floor of the hospital. Looking up, the man called back, "Are you speaking to me?" The voice from the window answered, "Yes, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever thanked God that you have a healthy mind?" The driver spoke of this incident saying, "I suddenly realized that after bringing people to this hospital for 15 years, I had never once thanked God for a good mind."
This is the great danger. We may well forget to thank God for the things He has kept us from as easily as forgetting the things He has done for us.
II. The Seriousness of Ingratitude
A. Physical Issues
Actually, God created us to be physically blessed through a heart and mind filled with gratitude. We read constantly of the danger brought about through depression and stress. Medical science continues to reveal through data and research that despondency leads to psychological problems, disease, and possibly even an early death. God told us this long before the doctors knew it.
Proverbs 17:22 states ...
"A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
When we have a thankful attitude, we actually resist illness and disease better than those who are negative. Someone once put it this way, "The surly bird catches the germ."
During the Civil War it is reported that President Abraham Lincoln was criticized for laughing. He replied, "With the fearful strain that is upon me, if I did not laugh I should die."
In short we can say, "The joy of the Lord is our strength." If you feel weak today, perhaps it is because you lack the health and energy that can be yours through a more thankful and grateful attitude.
B. Social Issures
Attitudes are catching. When we are negative, people catch a negative spirit from us. When we are thankful, people inherit a thankful, glad spirit from us. That is why the Bible declares that we are to think good thoughts and speak positive words. Just read Ephesians 5:19-20. We are told to edify each other with the songs of praise and the thoughts of God's goodness. We drag down everyone around us when we fail to keep a thankful spirit.
C. Spiritual Issures
In Daniel 6:10 we note that Daniel prayed three times daily, thanking God. No wonder he was such a spiritual giant for God. A lack of gratitude can affect us spiritually. We may say the reverse, a lack of Spiritual fullness can cause us to be unthankful. Either way, a lack of thankfulness is a spiritual problem, and it puts a barrier between you and your God.
D. Eternal (Philippians 2:14-16)
Psalm 69:30-32 tells us that when we as Christians glorify God through thanksgiving those who need the Lord are brought to faith and trust in the Lord. The absence of such thankfulness does the very opposite. In fact, giving thanks to God and sharing a positive witness to the world go together. Read Psalm 105:1 to see this.
Years ago I heard someone tell a story that reveals the power of a thankful heart. It seems that a preacher had made several attempts to bring a university professor to faith in Christ, all without success. The professor continued to come to the church and then one Sunday he stepped out and came to the front of the church following the message and stated that he was coming to profess his faith in Christ as his Savior. After the service the preacher asked the man what in his message had prompted the man to finally take the step of faith. The professor said, "Preacher, it was not your message, but a little boy who touched me. Last week as I was leaving the service I bumped into this boy. The boy looked up at me with a big, beaming smile on his face and said, 'Mister, ain't it good being a Christian!' I nodded, but I knew I wasn't really a Christian. I've thought about that little lad all week. The joy on his face, the thankfulness on his lips touched me. When I come to the end of the way, I want to have that kind of peace and happiness.'"
There is eternal power in the thankfulness and joy of a believing Christian. You I can bring people to faith in Christ through and attitude of gratitude.
III. The Subduing of Ingratitude
A. Repent
We need to ask God to forgive us for our lack of thankfulness. As with all sins, we must confess in order to be cleansed.
B. Return
In Psalms we are told to, "Come into His gates with thanksgiving." Return to the Lord with praise and gratitude today.
The Word for Thankfulness in the Bible speaks of the extended hand. It speaks of Praise, Purity, Possessions, and Performance. You see this clearly in Psalm 100.
Praise Him with the extended hand of exaltation. Open your hands to have the full forgiveness of God in your life. The international sign of surrender is the uplifted, empty hand. Surrender your life to Him. Praise Him. Give Him all you have as an act of gratitude. Serve Him with gladness. Do with your hands whatever you can do and do it all with thankfulness.
C. Remember
I challenge you to do something starting today. Begin a journal into which you write at least one thing for which you are thankful each day. By next thanksgiving, you will have a journal of at least, and I suspect more than, 365 testimonies of thankfulness.
Eric Bridges writes, "In a leper colony on Tobago, an island in the Caribbean, short-term missions volunteer Jack Hinton is leading the music for a worship service. He asks the lepers to request their favorite songs. The time comes for one last song, and a woman whose back had been to the pulpit turns around. 'I saw the most hideous face I had ever seen,' says Hinton, a North Carolina pastor. 'The woman's nose and ears were entirely gone. Her lips had almost rotted away. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, 'Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?'
"Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. Another volunteer missionary followed him out to console him. 'Jack,' he says, 'I guess you'll never be able to sing that song again, will you?'
'Oh, yes, I will,' Hinton responds, 'but I'll never sing it the same way again.'' [SBC Life, Feb/Mar 1996. Page 1.]
Today is the day to remember and give God the thanksgiving He deserves. The Lord knows that when your lift up praise to Him, it lifts up your lift to higher ground. Surely there are many of us who need ot renew the depth of our thankfulness to God - let's do that right now!