Gift Thanks

Ps. 107:^21-22 (KJV) “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing.”

For the past few days, we have been looking at how to show our gratitude to God. Gratitude is big and we cannot over emphasize the importance particularly for us God’s people. We can show gratitude by singing from our hearts, by telling others the good news, by serving with the abilities He has given us, and by giving an offering back to God. Deut.16:¹⁰ “Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.” (NIV). The Easy-to-Read Version of Deut.16:¹⁰ reads, “Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest for the Lord your God. Do this by bringing him some special gift you want to bring. Decide how much to give by thinking about how much the Lord your God has blessed you.” (emphasis added).

What I am saying is, the level of your giving is the level of your gratitude.  The level of your giving shows how grateful you are. How can we show our gratitude? By Living Each Day As A ‘Thank You’ Gift To God. Col. 3:¹⁷ “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God . . .” (NIV, emphasis added). Whatever you do; mowing your lawn, washing your dishes, doing diapers, cleaning the window, eating your food – whatever means whatever. God expects us to live a life that is giving thanks to Him, living each day giving thanks to God. 1 Thess. 5:¹⁸ “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!” (NIV, emphasis added). Take note that God did not say, ‘give thanks for all circumstances.’ Some people say Christians are supposed to give thanks for everything, so we ought to be giving thanks for all the killings that are happening. No, that is not what the Bible says. The Bible says, “give thanks in all circumstances…”; we are hurt but we know God knows better than us, so we thank Him. We are not thanking God for what has happened, but we are thanking Him in spite of what has happened.

Col. 2:⁷ “Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.” (LB, emphasis added). For your life to overflow, it means when people encounter you, what they leave with is a life of gratitude. When people leave your presence, they are amazed about how grateful you are, or they themselves just become really grateful. They may not understand why but it has overflown from your life to their lives. The reality is that in this world, you will have troubles, there are things that will not just go the way you want them to go. But God says, let your life overflow with thanksgiving. I want to challenge you to live and commit your life to God like that. Let your life overflow with thanksgiving, regardless of where you are in your journey. How else can you say thank you rather than committing your life to Him and there is no better time than right now. If you have committed your life to Christ, then find a reason to thank Him.

Prayer: Father, I pray that my life will perpetually overflow with gratitude to You my King, in Jesus Name. Amen!