WHY DO WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD PART 1
Psalm
124:1-8
1If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up
against us:
3Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their anger was kindled against
us:
4Then the wasters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6Blessed be the Lord, who had not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7Our soul is escaped as a bird, out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare
is broken, and we are escaped.
8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who make heaven and earth.
Giving thanks is a practice that does not come to
many people easily because when they look at their lives, they believe there is
nothing worth giving thanks to God for. They convince themselves that thanking
God should be done by those that the Almighty God has showered His blessings on
but that this is not right for them.
They believe there is no justification for thanking God as He is yet to
meet them at the point of their need and grant their request.
But this is not correct if properly considered.
Everyone has reason(s) to thank God.
There is no one who does not have a reason to thank God. It is only when we can not think or we are of
shallow mind that we will not give thanks.
A thoughtful person will be a thankful person. A man grumbling and complaining about not
having shoe(s) will thank God when he sees a man without legs. A lady who thinks she does not have good
clothes will thank God when she sees another insane lady naked.
Oh how ungrateful we often are! Often times, many of
us are not grateful for God’s kindnesses and manifold blessings in our
lives. All we are concerned about is
what is yet to happen that we fail to see what has happened. We remember so constantly answers to prayers
that are yet to manifest that we forget answers to prayers we are already
enjoying. We regularly violate God’s instruction concerning giving thanks.
That is why 1 Thessalonians 518 says, “In
everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you.” Also, Ephesians 518 -20 says 18 “And not be drunk
with wine, wherein in excess but be filled with the Spirit. 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord. 20Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” From the
scriptures above, we can derive that we should give thanks to God at all times
and in all circumstances and situations which include both positive and
negative, favourable and unfavourable, successful and un-successful etc.
In
the same vein, Colossians 317
says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or
deed, do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by
him”
I
want us to look critically at some reasons from God’s Word why we should always
give thanks to the Lord and trust Him and have it at the back of our mind that
this will jumpstart us to take thanksgiving as a way of life. All these reasons
will make us to see beyond the usual selfish reasons we put forward for
thanking God or for not thanking God. Thanking God is not just about what He
has done for you that you can see. Even if we think God has not done anything
for us (which are not true) we still owe Him an obligation to always give
thanks to Him.
1. FOR HIS NAME AND HIS GREATNESS: The Bible talks of all the tribes of Israel (the
Lord’s people) making their pilgrimage
to Jerusalem to give thanks to the name of the Lord,
as the law requires of Israel (Psalm 1224). God also requires thanks from us too as
the spiritual Israelites. We are also
expected to thank Him because of His greatness – He is a great God. 2“Let
us come to him before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise
unto Him with psalms. 3For
the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:2-3)
2. FOR
HIS HOLINESS: God deserves your thanks because of His
holiness. Always remember this and give Him thanks even if answers to your prayers are yet to manifest for which you
will love to share testimony before
the congregation in your church and among your friends. “Sing unto
the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give
thanks at the remembrance of His holiness”
(Psalm 304)
The
Book of Psalms in general speaks of God’s wonderful deeds and praises His holy
name respectively. God expects
nothing less than this from us. Psalm 9712 , Psalm 10647
3. FOR
HE IS GOOD AND HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER The
Almighty God needs to be appreciated for His mercy. That is
why the Bible says “Praise ye the Lord. O
Give thanks to the Lord; for He is good:
for His mercy endures forever” Also
several passages in the Book of Psalms says the
same thing. For example, Psalm 1061, Psalms 1071 and Psalms1181, 29 says: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His mercy endures forever” God’s
mercy, His steadfast love does not exist for a season; it does not exist temporarily. It exists forever, that is why we are
still alive today. If not for His mercy,
His unfailing love, where will we
(you and I) have been? The 26 verses of
Psalm 136 also tell us of His faithful love that endures forever and for all of
this He deserves our thanks.
4. FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT: 2 Corinthians
915 says, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift”. Unspeakable here could mean priceless, indescribable, too wonderful for
words. The New Living Translation says, “Thank God for this gift too wonderful for
words!”. This by interpretation refers to the grace
of God to man. When last did you
thank God for His gift to you? The greatest gift He has given us is His son. Gift unspeakable!
Or don’t you think Jesus is a wonderful gift
to the world?
5. FOR OUR SALVATION AND THAT OF OTHERS When was he last time that you thank God for your salvation, the
salvation of your loved ones and that of others?
We have that for granted almost everything even including our salvation.
A lot of people would give everything and anything to be where we are
i.e. to be saved. We don’t often thank Him for this except to complain and grumble about what He is yet to do
for us – that promotion you have
been expecting, that top flight job you
have been praying for, that house you have been believing God for money to buy, the car and so on. The Bible says in the book
of 2
Thessalonians 213 “But we are bound to give thanks always to
God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth”
Prior
to this, Paul had in his first letter thanked God for the people receiving the
Word of God and accepting it as God’s Word and not man’s word. “For this cause also thank we God without
ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye receive it not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe.. 1 Thessalonians 213.
This is a good lesson for believers
of the Word.
When
we take our salvation for granted, we are committing an unpardonable. It is a sin to take salvation for granted.
Salvation may be free but remember that somebody paid for it; he paid for it with his own life. He died like a criminal on the cross when in fact, he never sinned. When people
open their hearts to hear and accept
the Word of God, it is something to thank God for. When they give their lives to Jesus, it’s worth thanking God for.
And when these new believers keep standing in faith despite all trials and afflictions, we ought to
give thanks to God. Paul said in 1 Thess. 37-10 7“Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our
afflictions and distress by your faith. 8For now we live in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you , if we
stand fast in the Lord. 9For what thanks can we render to
God again for you for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our
God. 10Night and day praying
exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking
in faith.”
6.
FOR GOD’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT: This wonderful God is a righteous judge. His righteousness is
made most evident in His judgments. Psalm 11962 says, “At midnight I will rise to give thanks
unto thee because of thy righteous
judgments”. When God gives instructions,
they are to be are not harsh. It’s the
devil obeyed
and not discarded. It is
the devil that is deceiving and giving us the impression that they harsh
and he deceives us and want us to believe
that he loves us more than God. That was
the lie he told Eve in the garden of Eden. Every sin starts with a lie told somebody by the devil. God’s instructions, laws, commandments are for our own good. God
is not against us. We become our own enemies when we
violate His Word and thereby making His
judgment to come upon us.
7. BECAUSE IT IS THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOU
: In
the book of 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the Bible says
“ In every thing, give thanks for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you.” This scripture means is telling
us that when we fail to in certain
circumstances or situations for the
reason(s) best known to us, we are outside the will of God. By God’s standard, there is no circumstance beyond or above giving thanks to God. So,
whatever we are passing through, either palatable or not, let us always give thanks.
8. BECAUSE IT IS A GOOD THING: We
should desist from grumbling, murmuring or complaining because this is bad as children of the most High. Giving of thanks is good either to God or as a
show of gratitude to man for favours. Ingratitude is a sin. From God’s own very perspective, any man that refuses to thank God or show appreciation will have his/her sea of kindness
dry up. Ingratitude is – failure to acknowledge, recognize, validate,
appreciate God and people for the good things they have done and this is extremely dangerous as it will block blessings
from flowing in.
That
is why Psalm 92:1 says, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High” In
the book of Luke 17:17-19 , when Jesus healed the ten lepers, it is only one of
them who happens to be a Samaritan
that came back to show appreciation
and he was the only one that was
made whole. “17And Jesus answering
said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But
where are the nine? 18There are not
found that returned to give glory to
God, save this stranger.’ 19And he said unto him, ‘Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole’”. God expects us to come unto Him
with thanksgiving. It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to
the Most High. Have you done that today?
9. FOR
WE ARE ALIVE: It is only the living that can give
thanks to the Lord and praise his holy name. The dead can
not do that. Also, it is the living wise ones that can give thanks to God. So, be wise, give
thanks to Him while you are still alive because you will die one day. The
Bible says in the book of Hebrews 927 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.”. So it is advisable that before death comes, give
thanks to Him and not just ordinary thanks but quality thanks and worthy
praise. Psalm 65 says, “For in death
there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? The dead can not offer thanks to the
Lord; only the living can.
10. FOR
GOD AVENGES THE ENEMY’S ATTACK ON YOU: The
book of Psalm 7912-13
says “O Lord, pay back our neighbors seven times for the scorn they have hurled at you. Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will thank you forever and ever praising your greatness
from generation to generation”. This is telling us that God is the enemy of those who come
against His children, His own elect. He
will fight on our behalf and pay the evil ones back for any evil done against any one of us. This He does by
reason of covenant relationship with Him. Any attack against God’s children
is indirectly an attack against God,
and God will avenge. We need to thank God because He
is the one who pays back those who harm
us, He subdues the nations under us and rescues us from our
enemies. (Psalm 18:47-48). He does
not allow the enemy to escape with their attack against us.
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