a lifestyle of thankfulness

1 Thessalonians 5:18 AMP – Thank God in everything no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus…

Every November, we start preparing to celebrate one of our biggest holidays…Thanksgiving. I find it so interesting that we have an entire day set aside for us to reflect and give thanks for the wonderful things we have and enjoy in life.  For most of us, this is one of the happiest days of the year and we can easily see so many things in our lives to be thankful for. But as we head back to the reality of our everyday lives, will our being thankful start and end on that one day?  Selah (which means “stop and think about that!”)

When you are in an environment or celebrating an occasion that makes or forces you to think about the good in your life, it’s very easy to be thankful.  But what about each of the remaining 364 days in which your life could go extremely well, extremely bad or mediocre? Will you be thankful on any of those days and any one of those circumstance?  Selah again!

To make sure that our being thankful starts before and goes past the Thanksgiving holiday, let’s get some basic understanding about thankfulness.

What Does Being Thankful Mean?

Being thankful is simply some sort of expression to God, your parents, your siblings, your friends, or anyone letting them know you appreciation of something they have done for you – specifically some act of kindness or goodness they have shown to you. In other words, an expression of favor and/or kindness shown towards you should demand an expression of appreciation from you.  This can be done by simply saying, “Thank you.”  However, being thankful should also be an expression of appreciation from your heart, and this expression should have value to you and the other person.

Understanding Thankfulness

Now, living as a “thankful” person is more of an attitude in which you make a conscious decision to always acknowledge and recognize someone, specifically God, for showing you favor and kindness in your life – no matter how good or how bad you may feel at the time.  In other words, thankfulness says, “I purpose in my heart and mind to not allow the things that are going extremely well or extremely bad to block my view of God, what He’s doing in my life or circumstances or to hinder me from giving Him thanks for it.”  For example, if you are in a season of life where you have a lot of money, don’t let your abundance in money stop you from recognizing God’s hand on your life and His goodness towards you.  The same goes if you are in a season of “not so much money.”  Not having all the money you desire should still not stop you from giving God thanks for still taking care of you and providing for you.

Thankfulness is an inward decision to express appreciation, and being thankful is the outward expression of this decision.

Bible Examples

Now let’s look at a Bible example of these two things.  First, let’s look at being thankful.  Get your Bible and read Luke 17:12-19. This is the account of Jesus healing ten lepers. Notice that they all were healed, but how many of them came back to say thank you to Jesus???  Only one of them expressed appreciation towards Him. In verse 15, he did this by glorifying God with a loud voice, falling down on his face and giving thanks to Him. Jesus took note that this man knew what it meant to be thankful. But observe what the other nine did. They just went on about their day. They allowed the events of an extremely good day to rob God of the appreciation that was due to Him.

Now, let’s look at another example of being thankful, and things were not going too well for these people! Read Acts 16:16-25. This is the account of Paul and Silas being jailed for casting a spirit out of a young girl.  Now think about all that happened to them. They were falsely accused, stripped naked, beat and thrown in prison. From reading these verses and looking at it from an outside perspective, there is no obvious sign God’s goodness or kindness in their lives – they were having a pretty bad day!  Paul and Silas must have had a different perspective. Verse 25 holds an important key to their attitude while experiencing all of this. It says that at the end of their day, they were praying and singing hymns to God. They chose to sing songs of praise and give thanks to God in the midst of an extremely bad day. They did not allow the circumstances to block their view of what God was doing in their lives, or hinder them for giving Him thanks for it. And notice that in the midst of their praise, an angel set them free from jail!

Let’s start today with developing a lifestyle of thankfulness and being thankful.  Let’s not take for granted the things God and others do for us that express their favor and kindness. And no matter how good or bad life may get from this day forward, don’t allow the good things or the bad things to block our view of what God is doing in your life.  And let’s thank God in everything no matter what the circumstances may be…even after Turkey Day has come and gone!