An unthankful person is a “boar” to be around! His thoughts and his actions are fixed upon himself, and he has little to no interest in needs of others! He is far from the person whom Jesus describes in his teaching! The word thankfulness is not part of his character. He may think of himself as a faithful Christian, but the evidence would point differently!
We have just had a great “thanksgiving” day with family and friends but did we think who had less than we have. Thankfulness is in every part of the character found in the teaching of Christ! But we can know if we are a thankful person, but we need to know a little about more what the word means!
It is a three-part word: 1) thank, 2) full and 3) ness. Now for the first part of the word ‘thank” is being grateful for all that we have. Just to keep it simple, we give thanks for what we have and even more so, when we look around us. “Full” would carry the thought of being up to the rim, room for no more and the “ness” on the end expresses a state of being. I remember a preacher telling a story of himself. He had gone to preach in Africa and when he departed his homeland people had one car and it was parked outside. However, upon his return he found that everyone had two cars, a double garage full of things, so the two cars were still parked in the big driveway and finally in the back of the house was a big boat. His conclusion was that we are a very wealthy people. This all hit him as a striking blow as he had just come home from a land where people walked with no shoes, they cooked their meals on wood burning fire, and whole family lived in a hut for years, where people cooked outside their little hut, whole families slept with no door.
But, do we thank God for all we have, not just one day a year but every day. Paul wrote in a worshiping context the following: “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:19-20). Paul says we are to be “giving thanks.” We have every reason to be thankful when we live in the wealthiest nation of earth! This is in the material world but in the spiritual realm, we feast at the table of our God, and receive the spiritual blessings daily which can come from no other!
Thankfulness comes up 71 times in the New Testament, and most of those instances are the word, or related to this word. The definition: “To show oneself grateful, to be thankful, to give thanks.” It seems so simple to give thanks to God for all the good we receive! But, how many times do we utter the word, but give little thought to what we have really received! In this life we can start with the air we breath, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Spiritually, how about the forgiveness of our sins?
But let us look at a few more things to be thankful for! If you have a family, you have something to be thankful for; if you have good health, then you have something to be thankful for; if you have a good job, then you have something to be thankful for; and if you are able to be in the weekly assembly of worship, then you have something to be thankful for.
Now, let us get a little closer to home. When your voice blends together with that of others, even though it is a little too right (or flat) of center, it helps the overall singing; that is if your voice is not heard above everyone elses. Paul wrote: “giving thanks in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
If you would, let me give you little personal story. The first time I went out to preach, which would be my third sermon, the little congregation had no song leader; so I told them, that the Lord said “sing;” therefore, let us sing and I attempted to lead them! Yes, we were a little off key! Let us give thanks for blessings!
Frank R. Williams