What does it mean to be Thankful?



The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) 

This is the time of year when everyone wants to say they are thankful. We plan  family meals, have special Church gatherings, maybe even give a little extra toward the needy… but the question we must ask ourselves is this:

Are we Thankful?

Or are we pretending?

Being thankful is an essential ingredient if the Christian is to be right with God. Thankfulness is a state of mind that we choose to have, where we are feeling gratitude for what we have been given. To be thankful means that you are grateful. 

(As an aside, you learn a lot when you study the origin of a word; grateful comes from the Latin word, gratus, and the English equivalent is the now unused term grate which means ‘thankful.’ I laughed at this, because I was thinking how many of us have said, “That person grates on my nerves…” I suppose that really means we are thankful for them.)

Other synonyms include gratitude, appreciation and indebtedness.

There are several things we should keep in mind when it comes to Thankfulness; the first is that it is an OBLIGATION: Christ has commanded us to be thankful. (Which, to be honest, is really sad when you really think about it; that He would have to command us to show appreciation for the things we have been given.) In other words, it is not an option; it is something that we must do because we are told to do it.

Many people today have an entitlement mentality; they get to the point where they think that life is all about them, and that they deserve everything they get, (and for that matter, deserve all the things they aren't getting…) To make this simple, let me explain this as succinctly as possible.

You don’t deserve anything.

Thankfulness is not an old fashioned concept, and it is not overburdening; it is simply a way of showing your appreciation for the things you have been given.

The second thing we should remember is that Thankfulness is an OPPORTUNITY: it is an opportunity to be a blessing to others… when others supply something to us, it is right that we should supply something to them; Thankfulness is the perfect response for a gift given.

We will not always be able to recompense someone in kind for things they do for us, but showing Thankfulness is the biggest blessing that we can give someone.

There will be times in the life of a Christian where we are not in a position that is, in our opinion, ideal; however, that should not have an influence on whether we are thankful.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) Paul wrote this verse after leaving Thessalonica due to intense persecution.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11) He wrote this verse from Prison!

Neither of these were ideal situations, but he found a way to be thankful despite the difficult times.

The thing we must remember is that God will not make us thankful; you cannot pray and say, “God, make me thankful!” because the answer will always be no. If we are thankful, it is because we CHOOSE to be thankful to honor Him. The key to choosing is found in (Philippians 4:11) where Paul said, “…I have learned…”

Have you?