“…and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15)
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s”(Psalm 103:1-5).
There are four kinds of people with regard to this matter of being thankful: First, there are those who are constantly complaining and grumbling. No matter what their circumstance in life, they always have a way of expressing their dissatisfaction.
Second, we have those who live lives of ingratitude. They do not complain, but they never thank God for His obvious blessings.
Third, we have those people who thank God for obvious blessings. When something good happens, then they are grateful. Surely these are better than the two groups above.
Fourth, we find the highest level of men who are grateful for all things at all times. Yes, for these people, thankfulness is the secret of their happy and productive life. The thankful heart counts his blessings and carries his burden.
Sad to say, ingratitude is one of the greatest flaws in the nature of man, and we dare say that most individuals are given to it. One of the most pathetic cases of ingratitude is seen in Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers – only one of them came back to thank Him for such a tremendous blessing. He obviously was disappointed, for He said in Luke 17:17, ” …Were there not ten cleansed’? but where are the nine?”
During the great depression days, which were desperate times for so many, there was a radio personality who had a program called “Job Center of the Air.” He did his best to find jobs for those in need, and, in fact, he did find jobs for 2,500 people in the days when jobs were as “scarce as hen’s teeth.” He reported that out of that large number who received assistance, only ten ever took the time to thank him. What base ingratitude!
A story also is told of a man who remembered a school teacher who had been very helpful to him when he was a child. She was now in her eighties and living all alone. So he sat down and wrote a letter expressing his thankfulness to her. Upon receiving his letter, she wrote to him, “I can’t tell you how much your letter meant to me. You will be interested to know that I taught school for fifty years, and yours is the first note of appreciation that I have received. It came on a blue, cold morning and filled me with cheer.”
Friends, if our ingratitude to man is bad, what about ingratitude to God? The chief enemy for being thankful is self, which is the essence of all sins. This matter of being thankful has to do with the attitude of our heart. The child of God ought to be able to thank God every moment of every day no matter what may be his lot in life. “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5 :20).
The Bible says that in the last days ” … men shall be lovers of their own selves … “ (2 Timothy 3:2). This has always been true, for man is basically selfish, but it is increasing and intensifying like all other sins in these last days. However, God’s people ought to take this time to express their thanksgiving to God for His salvation and provision. Unfortunately, this sin, like many others, is becoming more and more evident in professing Christians. Thanksgiving for most professed believers in Jesus Christ is nothing more than a holiday, a time of feasting, ballgames, and so one.
Dear friend, how grateful are you for God’s blessings and bounty? How grateful are you for God’s ” … unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15)? Are you thankful enough to surrender your all to Him who loved you and gave Himself for you? In spite of the sad condition of our land today, how blessed of God we are. Abraham Lincoln, in his Thanksgiving proclamation, in the midst of that horrible war, said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven … but we have forgotten God.”
If we are true believers in Jesus Christ, our gratitude ought to be abundantly evident because of all that He has done for us. “Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11). “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”(Psalm 107:8).