By Dr. Bill Bennett
GRATITUDE IS TO BE EXPRESSED. Now, that is excellent advice because a grateful person is a happier, healthier, and holier person. But more than just good advice, this is a command from our all-knowing and loving God. Gratitude is not an option; it's an obligation. God knows what happens to the ungrateful, and that's not what he wants for you or me.
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:21). "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy..." (2 Timothy 3:1-2). "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6). "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) .
GRATITUDE IS TO BE EXPANSIVE. We are told to give God thanks in "everything." Not just in "most things." Not just for "good things." But in "everything." Now a caution here is in order. Nowhere in the word of God are we commanded to FEEL grateful. Feelings come and go, and can be affected by the weather, your health, how rested you are, etc. The thanksgiving God commands of us has nothing to do with feelings. Whether things are good or bad, we are to be grateful.
Now lest you think, "Well, that may be easy for Paul to say," let me tell you that it was not easy for Paul, the inspired writer of these words, to say. He had been run out of Thessalonica at the threat of losing his life. He had been beaten, whipped, imprisoned, shipwrecked, stoned, and left for dead. Yet he wrote (in 1 Thessalonians 5:18), "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."
In Acts 16, we are told that Paul and his partner in ministry, Silas, were beaten with rods, whipped and scourged, and thrown into prison in Philippi. But rather than sighing, they began singing. I don't know what they sang, but the lyrics may have been something like this: "Thank you Lord for saving my soul. Thank you Lord for making me whole. Thank you Lord for giving to me thy great salvation so rich and free."
GRATITUDE IS A BLESSING. Because of their thanksgiving, Paul and Silas were enabled by God to rise physically, psychologically, and spiritually above their circumstances. Gratefulness is a priceless gift from a loving God who desires only the best for us all.
Dr. Bill Bennett is an ordained RCA Minister serving the Crystal Cathedral as the Lead Pastor for the Evening Service. This devotion is based on a message Dr. Bennett delivered during the Evening Service on August 15, 2009. (Additional scripture references: Philippians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Luke 17:11-19.) "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."
