Thank you Lord

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:20

I recently watched an adult give a toddler some food. “Say thank you”, she told the child. After several prompts, he eventually repeated ‘tank ew’ in his cute baby accent.

“That’s sweet,” I thought, “And important training.” Whether we are a toddler focused on food, or an adult busy with life, thankfulness does not come naturally to us. Yet even secular science tells us that gratitude, “the quality of being thankful”, benefits our physical and mental health. Medical research has demonstrated that thankfulness can help the immune system and aid with regulating blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. In many secular bookshops, you’ll find gratitude diaries–exercise books with prompts that encourage the reader to record positive things that happened to them that day or that week. If the benefits of being thankful are so widely acknowledged, why is it that we typically struggle to be grateful?

Thankfulness is contrary to our natural desires. Romans 1 contains a long list of sins committed by unrighteous people, but tellingly, this list is prefaced by verse 21a: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful...” We ought to thank God, acknowledging that He is Creator (v20) and that we are saved from God’s wrath (v18) by the work of the Son of God (v 4-5). This involves recognising, “in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18a), and that I have “come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In daily life, for example, thanking God for His enabling in a work meeting means that I must first admit that I need His help. How many of us like to acknowledge our inadequacies? Thanksgiving also doesn’t come naturally because humans are biased towards focusing on negative events. “Bad news sells more newspapers than good news,” an editor once said and the Israelites are an example of how quickly people forget about the good things God has done for them. “Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy” (Psalm 78:41-42). Sometimes we are actively unthankful and complain about our circumstances. Other times we are what I call passively unthankful: we move on with our lives without bothering to be thankful.

But Ephesians 5:20 tells us we should be “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Thanking God always, and for all things? How is this possible? While many things could be said about thankfulness, an associated word is the word ‘remember’.

Thanksgiving is our response to what God and Christ have done in saving us from our sins. This means that a life of thanksgiving is only possible for those who are the children of God. We are those who know the goodness of God and His wonderful works: “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” (Psalm 107:21-22). When we come to worship God, let us, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name” (Psalm 100:4). We thank God for washing, sanctifying and justifying us “in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11b). When we have communion, we follow Jesus’ example, “And He [Jesus] took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice should prompt us to worship God through thanking and praising Him.

We also thank God for what He is continuing to do in our lives and others’ lives. There are so many things we can be thankful for, but here are a few the Apostle Paul specifically mentions: triumph over sin, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). Paul was grateful for God’s empowering in ministry, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12). And He thanked God for the maturing of new believers, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

But what do we not thank God for? We should not thank God for (or rejoice in) things that He hates, such as the sins of pride and evil listed in Proverbs 6:16-19. But we can thank Him that He is sovereign no matter the circumstances: “There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” (Proverbs 19:21). We can thank Him for His presence and enabling through the difficult times, “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest” (Exodus 33:14). And we can thank God that He loves us and has a perfect plan for our lives: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

The first step of thankfulness is remembering. How many of us can remember what we ate for lunch yesterday, let alone what happened three days ago? It takes effort–and pencil, paper and the notes section on your phone or computer–to record what God has done in our lives. While I could have been more consistent, I am grateful for the notes I have made over the years, because reading back over those records of God’s enabling prompts me to thank and praise Him. My next challenge is to write out my testimony, the story of how I became a Christian. If that’s not something you have done either, I would encourage you to pause to remember how Christ saved you too.

Read the Bible, the greatest prompt for thanksgiving that exists. The Bible doesn’t just command us to be thankful, it records over and over examples of God’s working in the lives of His people. I recently read of an Ethiopian man called Ebedmelch, who risked his own life to protect the prophet Jeremiah. Even though Jerusalem would be destroyed by King Nebuchadrezzar, God promised to protect Ebedmelch, saying, “For I will surely deliver thee… because thou hast put thy trust in Me, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 39:18). When I read such examples, and know that the God who was faithful then will be faithful today I can’t but be thankful that God honours those who honour him (1 Samuel 2:30b). Whether examples like this, gospel accounts of Christ on earth, or Psalms that prompt thanksgiving and worship, the Bible is our constant encouragement to thank the Lord.

So, in summary, let’s remember what God has done for us. And as we remember, and read the Bible, we will find ourselves, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).