“Where are the nine?” Jesus asked. He had healed ten lepers, but only one of them came back to give thanks to Jesus for His gift of healing. Nothing has changed since then. Still today people receive bountiful gifts of the Lord, but how few give thanks to Him for them. Even the professed Christians who have received the knowledge of salvation and forgiveness for their sins and the hope of eternal life do not thank the Lord according to the greatness of the gifts they have received.
David gave thanks to the Lord in the morning. “But I will sing of Thy power: yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.” Psalm 59:16
Is there reason to thank the Lord in the morning? We read that His mercy is new every morning. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23
“Weeping may endure for a night, buy joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5. David prayed to God also at noontime and at the evening. “Evening, and morning, and at the noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17
But that was not enough; even at midnight he continued to give thanks to the Lord. “At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of Thy righteous judgments.” Psalm 119:62. While others were sleeping, David rose up to give thanks to the Lord.
David recognized that the Lord had put a new song in his mouth. “And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40:3
This is what the Lord is doing to us also. He is putting a new song in the mouth of the 144,000, who are saved at the time of the end. “And they sang as it were a new song before the throne.” Revelation 14:3
Paul writes, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20
“If the loving-kindness of God called forth more thanksgiving and praise, we would have far more power in prayer. We would abound more and more in the love of God and have more bestowed to praise Him for. You who complain that God does not hear your prayers, change your present order and mingle praise with your petitions. When you consider His goodness and mercies, you will find that He will consider your wants. Pray, pray earnestly and without ceasing, but do not forget to praise.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 317
A thankful person is a happy person. When he receives more than he deserves, it makes him glad and full of joy.
In Nehemiah 8:10 we read, “The joy in the Lord is your strength.” Dissatisfaction is weakness. Misery and complaining makes us victims of Satan. A selfish person is not thankful, neither a proud person. A covetous person is not satisfied with what he has. He complains that God has given to someone else more than to him.
It is sin to receive blessings and gifts from God and not be thankful for them. Paul writes, “Because they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful: but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21
People who are not thankful will be darkened in their minds and hearts, and lose the blessings of the Lord.
We are normally thankful to the Lord when our lives are saved by a miracle and a great blessing of prosperity comes to us, but we need to be thankful for small blessings and benefits also. We may be thankful to the Lord if we have a thousand dollars, but if we have only two dollars, should we not be thankful for that also?
Once four thousand men besides women and children had been with Jesus for three days, and instead of sending them home hungry, Jesus asked the disciples how much food they had. They only had seven loaves of bread and a few fishes. Jesus could have said that this is nothing for so many people, but no, Jesus took them and gave thanks to God for them. By giving the little what they had and thanking God for it, they received the blessing of God and it was multiplied, and was enough for everybody.
We need to give thanks for the life that we have, the daily food, the night’s rest, the health, rain and sunshine, and a thousand other blessings which we have received daily, besides the great sacrifice that God has made for our salvation. When we realize all these blessings of God, we have hardly enough hours in the day to thank Him for them all.
In the old Israel people brought thanks offerings to the temple. Thanksgiving was not only lip service to them, but it was a sacrifice that they gave to the Lord. We are to express our thankfulness to the Lord also with a sacrifice of money, time, service, and whatever we have.
One of the blessings that we receive from the Lord is the discipline that He has to bring upon us. Often people pray to God to remove it rather than be thankful for it. God said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent.” Revelation 3:19
Peter valued the trials that we need to go through very highly. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7
Paul also understood the value of trials and persecutions. “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
Sister White writes about the sufferings that come upon the people of God. “Of all the gifts that heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honour. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honoured than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. ‘Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.’ Philippians 1:29.” –The Ministry of Healing, p. 478
On the last page of his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul writes, “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” Hebrews 13:15
The greatest example of thanksgiving is our Lord, Jesus Christ. “And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves. And He took the bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:17, 19. Jesus gave thanks that He could sacrifice His body and shed His blood for the salvation of lost mankind.
All through eternity the redeemed children of God will give thanks to Him for His sacrifice for them. If you do not have millions to thank God for, thank Him for the pennies you have. If you do not have good health, thank God that you are still living. If you do not have ten talents, give thanks for the one that you have and use it for His service. Do not have only one day a year for thanksgiving; let every day be a day of praise and thanksgiving, and the Lord will make a note of it and reward you richly for your thankfulness. Let this year, 2012, be a year of praise and thanksgiving and then we can continue it in eternity. AMEN.
Timo Martin