There are a multitude of references to thankfulness and thanksgiving in Scripture. The words “thanks” or “thanksgiving” occur in more than 100 verses in the Bible, a fact that ought to emphasize to us the importance of the subject. While there are innumerable things for which we, as believers, can and should give thanks, we would like to mention several that perhaps deserve our special attention.
First of all, we ought to give thanks for those things which God gives to all men and for which many are unthankful. Barnabas and Paul reminded those in Lystra that God gives to all men “rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:16). When the natural man fails to give thanks, he ought to be reminded of his failure in this by seeing a thankful heart in the believer. Our blessed Master gave thanks publicly, and especially for food which God provides. In this He is an example to us today; we ought to give thanks publicly whenever the opportunity arises.
For All Men
Along this same line, the believer is exhorted that “first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for [on behalf of] all men” (1 Tim. 2:1). While more than one meaning may be attached to the phrase “giving of thanks,” we would suggest that if man in general fails to give thanks to God for temporal mercies, the believer is privileged and exhorted to do so on his behalf. In this way God is glorified, even if those for whom it is done are not aware of it.
Salvation
Second, the believer ought to have continual thankfulness in his heart for his salvation. When we contemplate our lost condition before we were saved and the awful doom that awaited us, how it becomes us to give thanks to the One who redeemed us at a cost beyond our comprehension. It is the privilege of every believer to remember our Lord in His death, as He has asked us, but our hearts should continually look up in thankfulness as we realize what it means to have been “chosen ... in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).
The Full Revelation of God
Third, as believers in this the day of God’s grace, we have the immense privilege of being part of the church. The Lord Jesus could remind His disciples that “many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Luke 10:24). Many godly saints in the Old Testament had to be content with a limited revelation of God, while we in this dispensation have a full revelation. More than this, we have the full revelation of God’s mind, for Paul was given the truth “to complete the word of God” (Col. 1:25 JND). In that which was revealed to Paul, all is displayed.
In addition to this knowledge, we are “blessed ... with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). Every possible blessing is ours, and every Christian blessing is a mountain peak, beyond which even God Himself could not go. Do our hearts dwell on these blessings and respond with thankfulness?
The Hope
Fourth, we have a hope beyond this world — the hope of the Lord’s coming for us at any moment. Such a hope was unknown in the Old Testament, for even the most godly saint before the cross did not know what lay between death and resurrection. They might, and no doubt did, trust the Lord, but as another has said, “Death for those before the cross was really a leap into the dark.” For us, God has “brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings” (2 Tim. 1:10 JND). The ever-present hope of being taken to be with Christ at any moment surely ought to draw forth our thanksgiving and fill our hearts with praise.
For All Things
Finally, the believer today can give thanks “for all things” (Eph. 5:20) and can also “in everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18). We have not been promised an easy path in this world, but we do have the assurance that “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28), and even though we may not immediately see the outcome of all that God allows in our lives, we can in faith give thanks even in adverse circumstances. More than this, God uses these trials to teach us more of Himself — things which we can learn only down here. But what we learn down here in this way we will enjoy for all eternity. In addition, our thankful spirit in the midst of difficult circumstances is one of the strongest testimonies to this world, for trials in the natural man either crush or harden.
In summary, the believer has every reason to be thankful, in whatever circumstances he may find himself. But only a walk with the Lord will enable us to display this thankful spirit.
W. J. Prost