Give Thanks!

Last Monday was Thanksgiving Day for Canadians. Many people envision turkey, pumpkin pie and whipped cream, family and friends, a table loaded with food, or maybe certain colors and smells. Regardless of what traditions or practices people hold during that holiday, thanksgiving is a Biblical command. It is a command Jesus, Paul, David, Daniel, and so many others have modeled for us.

Matthew 15:36
And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks...

Ephesians 1:15-16
Wherefore I also...Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 

1 Chronicles 16:34
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

But...

This isn't a conditional command, though. Many people have no problem being grateful when life is great, but this is a command that is to apply to all circumstances. To the good and the bad; the happy and the sad; the easy and the difficult; the simple and confusing.

Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Giving thanks will not be always be an voluntary action for each wonderful occurrence in our lives. Certainly, we will praise God for those joyful times as well (Easy for me to say, right? After passing three tests in two days... :P;), but sometimes thankfulness will be a choice--not just a feeling. It will require an act of your will to give thanks for everything.

Thanksgiving is not an option. God didn't say...
"Give thanks when...
...your bills are all paid."
...you're passing all your tests."
...relationships are perfect."
...the sun is shining."
...friends are all in agreement."

But He did say...
"Giv[e] thanks always for all things."

I think praise and thanksgiving are related in many ways. Yes, we may praise God and not necessarily thank Him, and we can express thanksgiving without praise, but I think when we are truly thankful, our hearts will automatically praise God as well. Praise will naturally flow from a heart that realizes Who God really is and what He has done for us, and when we realize that, why would we not praise Him? 

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane thanking God for His disciples--some of whom who would shortly betray and deny Him. Paul (and Silas) sang praises to God in the middle of a dungeon--their backs torn from the beatings they received. David continually praised God in the Psalms, even through some of the most difficult circumstances in his life. Daniel--the man committed to prayer even in the face of adversity--praised God when He revealed the king's dream to him. These men chose to praise God through the easy and the hard times.

Think about it: how could we not praise Him? Even in the most hopeless and stressful situations, He was always there: He never left us. Let's praise Him for His faithfulness. In the lonely stages of life, when friends have gone, He always stayed close. Let's praise Him for His love. When uncertainty and worry fills our minds, He is waiting on the other side--watching us walk by faith through the path He has created. Let's praise Him for never-ending care.

Fanny Crosby's second verse of "Praise Him! Praise Him" says it well:

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled and died;
He, our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified!
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows;
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong;
Praise Him! Praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!

How will you show your gratefulness to Him today? What will you praise Him for this week?

Psalm 100:4
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Blessings,
Kaleigh