Be Thankful Always
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
When I was young, my parents taught me to write thank you notes. One of the rules of our household was that if we received a gift, that we would promptly write a thank-you note. My mom was always offended by my cousins who never wrote a thank you note. When we got older our families stopped our regular gift exchange, but that Aunt continued to send me birthday money. I’m convinced that it was at least partially because I faithfully demonstrated my thankfulness.
When I served in Columbus, we would often have panhandlers come by the church asking for a handout. We didn’t keep money on the premises, but there was a food donation box that I’d let people look through. One particular guy came in and was overjoyed to be given that food. Others were mad that I wouldn’t give them cash. One guy wouldn’t even let me pray with him… even though he had come to a church for help, and even though I’d offered him food and a coat.
Quite honestly, I’d rather give to someone who is thankful, wouldn’t you?
Do you have an attitude of gratitude?
I know people who are grateful for what seems to be the littlest things. They’re grateful that they have a roof over their heads and food on their tables. I know other people who are constantly griping about what they don’t have (or what other people have that they wish they had).
It’s all a matter of attitude, and you can choose your attitude.
Unfortunately, if you come at life with a "glass half empty" attitude, it’s hard to rise above it. What is the one thing that bugs you the most? I remember once sitting in the living room with my sister, complaining about how bored we were. We sat there talking about nothing and even suggested some things we could do, but in the end, we just sat there, bored. The funny thing was that this went on for nearly three hours! If we’d actually done anything, we could have conquered that boredom, but we choose not to.
This is the choice we have, no matter what our life circumstance is. We can choose to live a grateful life of thanksgiving, or we can choose to live a spiteful life of "gimme."
Why is it, in this country of prosperity, that nobody is satisfied? In our monthly meeting, our assistant DS asked clergy what we were doing to combat materialism. Why does that question even have to be asked? Quite honestly, it goes back to something Jesus said. He said that nobody could serve two masters; we can either serve God or money.
Money is a useful tool, but it makes a cruel master. There’s never enough; you always want more. Many of us have accepted Jesus’ lordship over our lives but we’ve withheld our finances.
What reasons do we have to be thankful? Well, as I said, it can be easy to find things to be thankful for when things are going well, but sometimes it can be hard. You can probably come up with many times when thanksgiving was hard. Perhaps it is right now.
Maybe think of it this way: you’re at a basketball game, and the other team keeps making baskets, scoring point after point. It could seem frustrating, watching them make one lay-up after another. But how different might you feel if your team was up 100-0 and this was the fourth quarter?
Wouldn’t that change your attitude?
When the Apostle Paul tells his reader to always be thankful, it’s not simply a "mind over matter" kind of thing. He’s not telling them to turn a blind eye to suffering or pain. He’s not telling them to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that everything is all right when it really isn’t.
No, Paul’s command is within this context: Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. It’s God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus! This is not only who he is talking to, but the reason for our thankfulness.
We are on the team that’s up 100-0 – and even more! Jesus already won the game, and no matter how many point it seems that the enemy has scored, the outcome is never in doubt. For that, we can be thankful. With this mindset, we can look at our difficulties and understand that they pale in comparison to the great wonder, which is in store for us.
We read about it in Revelation 21:1-6.
You might be thinking, "I’m thankful – especially on Thanksgiving. So what?" If that’s where you are and you’re OK with that, then it could be partially my fault for preaching a scripture out of its context. You see, part of Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians included living out their sanctified life. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul urged the Christians to live and to please God (as they were already doing), but to do so more and more. He said that they already loved each other, but they should do so more and more, and (get this) to make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
So be thankful, even more and more. And if you run out of things to be thankful for, ask God to show you.
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
When I was young, my parents taught me to write thank you notes. One of the rules of our household was that if we received a gift, that we would promptly write a thank-you note. My mom was always offended by my cousins who never wrote a thank you note. When we got older our families stopped our regular gift exchange, but that Aunt continued to send me birthday money. I’m convinced that it was at least partially because I faithfully demonstrated my thankfulness.
When I served in Columbus, we would often have panhandlers come by the church asking for a handout. We didn’t keep money on the premises, but there was a food donation box that I’d let people look through. One particular guy came in and was overjoyed to be given that food. Others were mad that I wouldn’t give them cash. One guy wouldn’t even let me pray with him… even though he had come to a church for help, and even though I’d offered him food and a coat.
Quite honestly, I’d rather give to someone who is thankful, wouldn’t you?
Do you have an attitude of gratitude?
I know people who are grateful for what seems to be the littlest things. They’re grateful that they have a roof over their heads and food on their tables. I know other people who are constantly griping about what they don’t have (or what other people have that they wish they had).
It’s all a matter of attitude, and you can choose your attitude.
Unfortunately, if you come at life with a "glass half empty" attitude, it’s hard to rise above it. What is the one thing that bugs you the most? I remember once sitting in the living room with my sister, complaining about how bored we were. We sat there talking about nothing and even suggested some things we could do, but in the end, we just sat there, bored. The funny thing was that this went on for nearly three hours! If we’d actually done anything, we could have conquered that boredom, but we choose not to.
This is the choice we have, no matter what our life circumstance is. We can choose to live a grateful life of thanksgiving, or we can choose to live a spiteful life of "gimme."
Why is it, in this country of prosperity, that nobody is satisfied? In our monthly meeting, our assistant DS asked clergy what we were doing to combat materialism. Why does that question even have to be asked? Quite honestly, it goes back to something Jesus said. He said that nobody could serve two masters; we can either serve God or money.
Money is a useful tool, but it makes a cruel master. There’s never enough; you always want more. Many of us have accepted Jesus’ lordship over our lives but we’ve withheld our finances.
What reasons do we have to be thankful? Well, as I said, it can be easy to find things to be thankful for when things are going well, but sometimes it can be hard. You can probably come up with many times when thanksgiving was hard. Perhaps it is right now.
Maybe think of it this way: you’re at a basketball game, and the other team keeps making baskets, scoring point after point. It could seem frustrating, watching them make one lay-up after another. But how different might you feel if your team was up 100-0 and this was the fourth quarter?
Wouldn’t that change your attitude?
When the Apostle Paul tells his reader to always be thankful, it’s not simply a "mind over matter" kind of thing. He’s not telling them to turn a blind eye to suffering or pain. He’s not telling them to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that everything is all right when it really isn’t.
No, Paul’s command is within this context: Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. It’s God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus! This is not only who he is talking to, but the reason for our thankfulness.
We are on the team that’s up 100-0 – and even more! Jesus already won the game, and no matter how many point it seems that the enemy has scored, the outcome is never in doubt. For that, we can be thankful. With this mindset, we can look at our difficulties and understand that they pale in comparison to the great wonder, which is in store for us.
We read about it in Revelation 21:1-6.
You might be thinking, "I’m thankful – especially on Thanksgiving. So what?" If that’s where you are and you’re OK with that, then it could be partially my fault for preaching a scripture out of its context. You see, part of Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians included living out their sanctified life. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul urged the Christians to live and to please God (as they were already doing), but to do so more and more. He said that they already loved each other, but they should do so more and more, and (get this) to make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
So be thankful, even more and more. And if you run out of things to be thankful for, ask God to show you.
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