How thankful are we as a people? Is it only on the annual “Thanksgiving Day” in November? Shame on us if that’s the case. Giving thanks to God should be an integral part of daily life. Are you listening atheists? Each morning we get awake, no one knows for sure what lies ahead that day. Life as we know it, is one of the most uncertain things in the world. Therefore, we should give God thanks for sparing our lives to see another day.
Tomorrow may not come. God says, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15). Isn’t it absolutely true what God is saying here? No one but no one knows exactly what will happen when tomorrow comes.
It behooves us to have an attitude of gratitude during every day. There are lots of things we can thank God for. The apostle Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
The following hymn expresses our gratitude to God:
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours to-day.
(Martin Rinkart 1586-1649)
The writer of Psalm 136 exhorts us to “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever. (vs 1-4). The entire psalm sets forth the mercy and loving kindness of God in a vast display of ways, which is worth considering and giving God thanks for. At the end of each verse are these words: “for his steadfast love endures forever.” When we try to survey the steadfast love of God, we will surely be “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
During His earthly ministry, ten lepers approached Jesus for their healing, And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When Jesus saw them he said to therm, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks” (Luke 17:12-16).
Jesus took note of the lone pepper who returned to give Him thanks.. “Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:17-19).
Wouldn’t you rather be like the one leper who returned to give God thanks for his healing? The nine others displayed an attitude of ingratitude to God for their healing. Today, there are people just like those nine unthankful lepers.