How do you teach someone to be grateful? Where would you start? Would you show them pictures of missionaries staying in grass huts as they minister on the foreign field? Would you show them pictures of the physically lame and mentally incapacitated? Or, perhaps closer to home, the beggars on the streets living in cardboard boxes? God forbid the person would have to learn gratitude like Job, who lost everything and then received it back again!
If a person is a child of God and recognizes he needs to be grateful, the easiest way is twofold. First, simply ask for this virtue. Then, consider the sufferings of Christ. As Paul says in Hebrews 12:2, “consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Regardless of whether we learn gratitude or not, being grateful remains a command. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 instructs believers this way: “In every thing give thanks: for this is THE WILL of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” These are heavy instructions from Paul to the children of God. “In every thing” means not only in the good things, but also in the bad things. When you get that promotion at work, you should give thanks. If instead you get fired from that same job, give thanks. If you are reduced to eating the same thing everyday for 40 years and wandering in the wilderness like the Israelites did, give thanks.
Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching. Some will travel a great distance to break bread with loved ones and thank God for all God’s blessings. But as we do, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 teaches us that we should not leave out the bad things. Maybe a debilitating injury that has put someone out of work, or a long-lasting injury has left him in chronic pain. Perhaps, God forbid, they have lost all their possessions in a hurricane, a fire, or by theft. In those difficult situations, thankfulness will come easier when we remember the words of Jesus. “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15). The things of this world may be taken from you, but your salvation cannot be stolen or taken away (John 10:28, Romans 8:38-39, Romans 11:29). For that we should be forever thankful.
Paul’s personal testimony says it best. “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Those who neglect this mindset have certainly forgotten the command of Jesus, who said this: “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of GOOD CHEER; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We have softened to the point that, if the air conditioner goes out, we count it a great loss. If traffic makes us late for work, we let it ruin our day, and maybe even our week! And, heaven forbid, if we spend time in the hospital, we forget to “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you,” and so we most assuredly do not “rejoice” (1 Peter 4:12-13).
Stop to consider the suffering world firsthand. People starve in third world countries. Citizens are oppressed by their evil dictator. Believers in Muslim countries are put to death for confessing faith in Christ or owning a Bible. Some missionaries must hide their ministries in certain countries or risk being arrested! Yet, in this country, we can freely exercise our faith by attending church, evangelizing on the street corners, and passing out Gospel tracts on the sidewalk downtown without persecution from the government. Yet we take this freedom for granted. Most of us do not worry about where our next meal is coming from. Meanwhile, drought and famine in other countries leave people with little to eat when crops fail. We don’t encounter persecution or hunger, and our modern comforts have influenced us to forget to be grateful for hard times. When is the last time you thanked God for your freedom, your food, roof, bed, and sofa?
Like Israel, we live in, “a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.” Similar to the Promised Land, our continent is “a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey.” God has given us “a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness” and a land where “thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass” (Deuteronomy 9:7-9). In America every life-sustaining resource is bountiful. Consider the corresponding command given to Israel. “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt BLESS THE LORD for the good land which he hath given thee” (Deuteronomy 8:10). The Lord gave that command to the Israelites when they were still facing tribulations in the wilderness. With hope of the good times to come God also warns them that, “if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God… ye shall surely perish” (Deuteronomy 8:19). If American Christians do not learn gratitude, we could perish as well.
This Thanksgiving we should all shout Psalm 9:1. “I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart.” No matter the circumstances, “hope thou in God” and tell yourself, “for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11). Let us cry, “O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth” (Isaiah 25:1), with the confidence that “thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it’” (Isaiah 30:21).
The above article was written by Jonathan Thornton. He is a military veteran and member of NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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