GIVE THANKS
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”— 1 Thess. 5:18
Do you care about God’s will? Will you do God’s will–regardless of what it is? As you know, the subject of God’s will is mentioned throughout the Bible and in some way in nearly every sermon. Pastors generally leave no doubt regarding the importance of God’s will and most church members could make a list of things that constitute the will of God. But I wonder how many would think to mention thanksgiving on their list. Although everyone knows we ought to be thankful we don’t think about it as much as we should. Not only do we not think of it as much as we should we don’t always think of it as we should.
Most people think of thanksgiving as something nice to do or something that would make life more enjoyable, but not as a serious command. Yet there it is, crystal clear, in our text–“for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. Take note of that word “you”–it applies to you just as much as those to whom Paul wrote.
The unthankful Christian is a disobedient Christian, which puts him in dangerous territory. We have no more right to ignore this command than we do to disobey any other. And make sure you understand the command. Notice the exact wording. It says “give thanks“. Those words come from a Greek verb implying action. It means more than being grateful. It demands that we express it, show ourselves as grateful. This means we should put into words what we feel in our heart. Whether in sermon, song, testimony, or prayer we are to state what is in our heart. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that it, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name”. (Heb. 13:15). Since God is good to all, all the time, there is never a reason or a season to not be thankful! For the saints there should never be a second of silence when our Savior is not being thanked for the exceeding greatness of His grace. — HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
