When I worked in an urban after-school ministry with many children of poverty, we once took a group of children to spend a day at the county zoo. Spring was just beginning, and the day started out extremely cold. Every boy and girl was expected to wear a hat and mittens. As the day wore on and the sun became brighter, things warmed up. By lunchtime the kids wanted to take off their hats and mittens. I noticed one of the girls remove her very nice, new-looking hat and mittens and toss them into a trash can. I immediately asked her why, and her reply was, “I don’t want to carry those. My mom got them free, and she will get me another pair free, too.”
You and I have been given so much more than a free hat and free mittens. But are we just as ungrateful?
Although we deserve only punishment for our sins, God saw fit to send his only Son to the cross of Calvary for us. Through his death and resurrection, we will live eternally in heaven some day. God has given us his beautiful Word so that we can know him better as our dear Father in heaven. God sent his Holy Spirit into our hearts, and through his Word the Holy Spirit created faith and nurtures that faith. God truly is the gift-giver of all time! And he doesn’t stop there . . .
Every day, God provides us with earthly blessings in abundance. We have homes with heat in the winter and a/c in the summer. Most of us drive cars. Our children go to schools, and many have amazing teachers and therapists who are emotionally invested in their learning and growth. The list of blessings goes on and on and on and on.
While God blesses us so greatly, we are still living in a world marred by sin. Often our blessings are shadowed by hardships and difficulty. Even in the midst of the hard times, our God gives us so much to thank him for. Psalm 30:4-5 says, “Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. . . . Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Similarly, Psalm 126:6 observes, “He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy.” You see, even in the midst of great hardships and pain, the cause of our inner joy still burns within our hearts. Our faith in Jesus and our hope of heaven give us joy that defies our circumstances. We know joy will come in the morning, and that knowledge carries us through.
So how can we thank a God who abundantly blesses us and has given us his own Son as the ultimate sacrifice? How do we thank a God who gives us earthly blessings with such abundance that we cannot even count them all? The Bible has a lot to say about thanking the Lord:
Psalm 100:4: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm 105:1: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 106:1: Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Isaiah 12:4: In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.”
What does thankfulness look like in our lives? Out of thanks, many people offer prayers and worship to the Lord. Many offer acts of service to other people. Many offer special monetary gifts to missions of their choice, their church, or someone in need.
In Old Testament times, the Israelites had clear guidelines for bringing offerings to the Lord. The Lord had specified what could be brought, how it should be brought, and how it would be sacrificed to him. These offerings were a picture of the Sacrifice that was to come. Since every law was fulfilled in Christ, we don’t have specific rules about our sacrifices.
We recall the Bible story about the first children in the world, Cain and Abel. When they became workers, they each brought God an abundant thank offering, but God found Cain’s to be unacceptable. It wasn’t unacceptable because of its content, but because of the heart of its giver. Cain did not give out of the overflow of his heart, and so his offering was unacceptable. When we think of the blessings we have been given so abundantly and spend time in God’s Word, our thank offerings will begin to overflow out of the love in our hearts. Colossians 2:6-7 says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
When we live “overflowing with thankfulness,” others take notice. (Writing that made me laugh because, who are we kidding?! Our children have special needs - others take notice of us anyway!) As they take notice, it is our joy – our defiant joy in the face of difficulty - and our focus on God’s grace that they will note. The Holy Spirit will use us to bring the news of Jesus to these people. When we live this way, our lives become a thank offering to God. Every day becomes Thanksgiving Day.
So this Thanksgiving holiday, maybe while we are thanking God for good food and enjoying our families and friends, we can share our inner joy, our relationship with Jesus, and our hope of heaven with others. We don’t need to use words. As they watch us overflowing with thankfulness (maybe even in the midst of difficulty), they will see. When our lives overflow with Christ like this, they are an offering of thankfulness to God – an acceptable, from-the-heart offering. May our offering this Thanksgiving be an overflowing life!
