Thanksgiving is not a
As a nation, we set aside one day a year we call “Thanksgiving.” On that day many, at least, think about why they are thankful. Some give thanks on that day, when they say grace over the turkey. Some even have each one at the table tell for what he or she is thankful.
Those are good things, but as far as God is concerned, thanksgiving was never intended to be a holiday! From His point of view, thanksgiving is to be a constant attitude of gratitude all day, every day.
Paul instructs believers to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
The last phrase in verse 18, “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” could go with the last command, or it could refer to all three commands. Most expositors would say that it goes with all three. Thus, the will of God is for believers to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. That certainly sounds like a constant attitude of gratitude all day, every day, in everything. Paul taught this truth by example. Throughout 1 Thessalonians, he constantly expressed thanksgiving for the believers at Thessalonica. In 1 Thessalonians 1:2, he said, “We give thanks to God always for you all,” and in 1 Thessalonians 3:9 he said, “What thanks can we render to God for you?”
Technically, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 does not say “for everything give thanks,” but “in everything” (however, cf. Eph. 5:20). The concept here is that the believer is to give thanks in every circumstance of life, in sickness and in health, in poverty and in wealth. In every situation of life, there are those things for which a believer can be genuinely thankful.
One morning during World War II, after a German raid, an Englishman stood in the street and gazed at his bomb-wrecked home. Then he said to his wife, “This morning someone came to our dugout and told me that we had lost everything. It’s a lie. Thank God, I still have health and strength to carry on my job. I still have you, my dear, and the children. Thank God you’re all safe. Hitler hasn’t squashed my faith in the love and wisdom of God or my faith in the ultimate victory over wrong. I still have hope for the future. I can still call my soul my own. I’m still alive and ready for action again. So, I reckon that you and I ought to thank God that we have saved more than we have lost. Houses and buildings may be wrecked and ruined, but you and I can still hold on to the things which can never be shaken or destroyed.” He did not thank God for the bomb, wrecked house, but in that situation he could still thank God.
G. K. Chesterton said that the most important lesson he learned was to take things with gratitude and not for granted. Everyday ought to be a thanksgiving day.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 11/27/2003
Those are good things, but as far as God is concerned, thanksgiving was never intended to be a holiday! From His point of view, thanksgiving is to be a constant attitude of gratitude all day, every day.
Paul instructs believers to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
The last phrase in verse 18, “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” could go with the last command, or it could refer to all three commands. Most expositors would say that it goes with all three. Thus, the will of God is for believers to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. That certainly sounds like a constant attitude of gratitude all day, every day, in everything. Paul taught this truth by example. Throughout 1 Thessalonians, he constantly expressed thanksgiving for the believers at Thessalonica. In 1 Thessalonians 1:2, he said, “We give thanks to God always for you all,” and in 1 Thessalonians 3:9 he said, “What thanks can we render to God for you?”
Technically, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 does not say “for everything give thanks,” but “in everything” (however, cf. Eph. 5:20). The concept here is that the believer is to give thanks in every circumstance of life, in sickness and in health, in poverty and in wealth. In every situation of life, there are those things for which a believer can be genuinely thankful.
One morning during World War II, after a German raid, an Englishman stood in the street and gazed at his bomb-wrecked home. Then he said to his wife, “This morning someone came to our dugout and told me that we had lost everything. It’s a lie. Thank God, I still have health and strength to carry on my job. I still have you, my dear, and the children. Thank God you’re all safe. Hitler hasn’t squashed my faith in the love and wisdom of God or my faith in the ultimate victory over wrong. I still have hope for the future. I can still call my soul my own. I’m still alive and ready for action again. So, I reckon that you and I ought to thank God that we have saved more than we have lost. Houses and buildings may be wrecked and ruined, but you and I can still hold on to the things which can never be shaken or destroyed.” He did not thank God for the bomb, wrecked house, but in that situation he could still thank God.
G. K. Chesterton said that the most important lesson he learned was to take things with gratitude and not for granted. Everyday ought to be a thanksgiving day.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 11/27/2003