“Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” — Eph. 5:20 (NKJV)
The commandment to give thanks to God for all things is perhaps the most difficult to fulfill because we are naturally inclined to thanksgiving only when great things happen to us. When duly practiced, this commandment can be the secret to having a happy and productive life.
The art of thanksgiving should not be limited to good times alone but also the bad times when things don’t seem to go according to our expectations. We need to appreciate the fact that God daily loads us with His benefits – Psalm 68:19.
When it comes to showing gratitude, there are four categories of people, namely:
- The Grumblers: This class of people complain and grumble just about everything. Their presence always dampens the spirit of others.
- The Ingrates: They neither complain nor show gratitude to God. To them every gift or blessing is a product of their own effort.
- The good-times thank givers: They only show their gratitude for obvious blessings. To them God only deserve their thanks when they receive a gift or blessing from Him.
- The real thanks givers: They are always grateful for all things whether small or big, good or bad. These are the class of people who have truly discovered the secrete of joy and true happiness.
One of the things that perhaps limit our thanksgiving to God is our expectations of Him, which often do not align with the reality of God’s plans and will for us. The problem is that as we continually focus on the “big” miracles and blessings, we tend to lose focus on the so-called “small” miracles that God daily load us with as the psalmist said in Psalm 68:19.
For example, as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit who leads and directs us at all times; we have been blessed with the Word of God which lights our path – Psalm 119:105. Above all, we have been saved through the blood of Jesus Christ and are guarantee of spending eternity with God in heaven. All this should naturally generate gratitude in our heart everyday.
The following are primary reasons why Christians must continually give thanks to God:
- For Victory over sin: This is a consequence of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. His death, burial and resurrection have given us victory over sin. This sin is however two-fold:
- The inherited sin from Adam and Eve
In this our relationship with God is restored by the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross. Rev. 21:8 reminds us that sin is what separates man from God leading to both spiritual and physical death.
- The sin we commit daily after our salvation
Because of our weak flesh, we sin and fellowship (not relationship) is broken with God our Father. However, we are restored into fellowship with God by asking for the forgiveness of our sin, and repenting of them (1 John 1:8-9).
- Victory over death: This victory is not something we would experience until we leave this world, because in physical death we pass over to live with God in eternity.
- Victory over life’s Problems: The devil does not want any good for God’s children and he constantly attempts to saddle them with problems. The confidence we have as God’s people is that He shields us from every form of evil – Psalm 91:1.
During life’s difficult moment, God helps us to get through it by giving us direction and strengthening us to withstand the pains.
A classic example of this is Job who, despite losing all his wealth and children in a day, still chose to worship God – Job 1 : 20 -22 and it was recorded that he never sinned against God in his tribulation. Consequently God blessed him by restoring to him in double folds all he lost – Job 42:10-14.
Job’s response in tribulation should characterize the way we react to life problems, giving thanks to God because we know he is aware of them and would not let these problems overwhelm us.