Central Thought: Thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude from the heart to the LORD.
Hymn: “When Upon Life’s Billows You Are Tempest Tossed”
Text: Genesis 4:3-7; Psalm 34:1-3, 107:20-32, 124:1-8; Luke 17:11-19
Thanksgiving is a show of appreciation for the good that one has received from another. As Christians, the Scriptures admonish us to be thankful to God always in all things. When we express thanks for what has been done for us, we simply place ourselves in position to attract more blessings.
Unfortunately, we complain and grumble over what we think God has ‘failed’ to do for us and lose sight of the numerous things He has done for which we should be thankful to Him. We will always see the need to give thanks to God, if we reflect on the countless mercies and favor He lavishes on us. As children of God, we should not wait until we are pushed before we see the need to thank Him. This lesson is to stimulate us to thank God at the slightest opportunity without being cajoled.
Lesson Objectives:
- To understand what thanksgiving is.
- To identify some reasons why we should thank God.
- To discuss what we should thank God with.
- To identify some hindrances to thanksgiving.
- To discuss what should be the right attitude of Christians to thanksgiving.
-
What is thanksgiving?
In trying to explain thanksgiving, let us first look at the words separately, for instance, thanks and giving. Thanks is expressing one’s gratitude or telling somebody that you are grateful for something that has been done, while giving is a continuous process of handing something to somebody to look at, use or keep or hand something to somebody as a present. We can therefore say that thanksgiving is telling God that we are grateful for what He has done for us and showing Him gratitude in the process. We should thank God from the depth of our hearts.
-
Identify some reasons why we should thank God.
There are so many reasons why we must thank God always. We will mention just a few in this study.
The first reason why we should thank God is that He made us in His image and likeness. We had no choice in deciding what we should be, it is purely god’s decision to make us human. He could have decided to make us reptiles or any kind of animal or anything else, but out of His love, He made us who we are. Scripture says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them”, Genesis 1:27. For this we should be thankful.
Secondly, that we are alive is another reason why we should thank God. It pleases God to give us life and we are not dead is worth thanking God for. Most times, we are quick at seeing our colleagues or ‘mates’ we consider ‘better’ than us and so do not see why we should thank God. We are however not quick to see those who are dead and therefore have no hope of doing anything to improve their situation. As it is often said, the miracle of sleeping and waking is the greatest miracle, so we must thank God for this.
Thirdly, the events that happened and are happening in our families, church, society, our nation and in the world should create in us the desire and continuous urge to thank our God.
-
What should we thank God with?
Two vital things are indispensable to thanksgiving, these are
-Praise and worship, and
-Our offering/substance.
Psalm 147:7 and 150:1-6 calls on us to praise the Lord with everything we can. As mentioned earlier, giving thanks is telling somebody that one is grateful for something that has been done for him or her. The only way we can tell God that we are grateful for what He has done for us is to praise and worship Him whole heartedly.
The other thing we can thank God with is our offering or substance. In Exodus 23:15, the Lord commanded that we shall not appear before Him empty. It is an error therefore to think that we can come to thank God without giving Him any substance as our present to Him.
-
What are some hindrances to thanksgiving?
Many things constitute hindrances to thanksgiving and as such, they make people to miss the blessings that go with thanksgiving. One of the hindrances to thanksgiving is having the wrong attitude as we see in the case of Cain in Genesis 4:3-7. Although the scriptures did not tell us exactly why Cain’s offering was rejected by God, but it is clear that he did it with the wrong attitude – which made him fall below God’s expectation. Some people think that thanksgiving is unto man and so it can be handled carelessly. This is a terrible deception from the devil which every Christian must reject. Another hindrance is when we tie it to our perceived success or achievement at any point in time. Sometimes we feel that God has not met our demands or accomplished the shopping list we presented to Him, therefore, He does not deserve our thanksgiving. So when there is call for thanksgiving, we either stay away from the church or feel unconcerned about it. This again is a trick of the devil which we must resist by all means.
Lastly, we sometimes treat thanksgiving with contempt. Some people think that god is a beggar who has no choice and so can be given anything we like whether they are good or bad. To treat God with contempt and throw anything at Him in the name of thanksgiving is an error. Malachi 1:7-9 warned us on the dangers of giving polluted offerings to God. Thanksgiving should be seen as opportunity to give our best to God for who He is and will continue to be.
- What should be the Christian’s right attitude to thanksgiving?
The Christian should see thanksgiving as an opportunity to express his or her gratitude to God for His undeserved mercy, favor and blessings upon us and as such do all that is within his power to put his best into it. We should offer what we know God will be pleased with, to Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit lead us on how and what we should thank God with and not lean on our selfish desire. Since God does not seek our opinion before he blesses us, we should also not seek people’s opinion before we show Him our appreciation; we should be guided by the word of God and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Christian’s right attitude to thanksgiving should be devoid of selfishness, show, competition, eye-service, but rather a heart devoid of offence toward God and man, cheerful, grateful and generous.
Daily Living Application:
Thanksgiving should come from the depth of our hearts as Christians who should always be full of gratitude to God. In fact, it should be a way of life for us. We should look forward to every thanksgiving with great excitement as it is an opportunity to position ourselves for more blessings from God.
Memory Verse:
Psalm 136:1 – “O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.”