Reasons to Give Thanks

Written by C. Thomas Wright, Ph.D.

Psalm 100:4 teaches believers to enter the Lord's Gates with thanksgiving and His courts with Praise. But how often do we try to enter His presence by begging, whining, and griping? The Bible shares many reasons for believers to be thankful.

Thankful that Jesus Paid for Our Sin

The Creator loves people so much that he sent His only Son to pay the penalty for our disobedience (see John 3:16). Jesus lived all of His earthly life without disobeying God. He never sinned. But He willingly sacrificed His life on the Cross and paid the penalty for each person's sin.

Jesus' death on the cross was so significant that it affected all of time and all of history. If you or I were the only humans to ever live, Jesus still would have died. He died to pay the penalty for your and my disobedience (1 Peter 3:18). His sinless life and sacrificial death are why Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6). God requires that His creation agree that they are (I am) wrong and God is right.

Thankfulness for Internal Change

Jesus becomes Lord when we ask the Holy Spirit of God to come inside of our lives and take control. When the Holy Spirit moves into the individual life, He begins to remold it into Christ's likeness. This change occurs on the inside first. This internal moral and spiritual change results in different behavior and activities. This change gives birth to prayer.

Thankfulness for Who He Is

The Creator God is absolutely holy. His justice and law are absolutely fair. He only does what is best for His creation. He trusts us enough to let us choose His best way over our own inferior way. The consequences of choosing our way are severe because they are not what are best for His creation. God's love is so great that He even provides Jesus' death to pay the penalty for choosing the wrong way. And God provides the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out.

Becoming a thankful Christian is more than just believing in God. Satan and his demons believe in God (see James 2:19). But they refuse to obey God. James 1:22-27 explains the importance "to be doers of the word, and not merely hearers." A personal relationship with Christ replaces all religious pretense. It transforms thanksgiving and prayer from a ritual into communication with our Lord.

A prayer coordinator shared, "I realized I needed to return to biblical thanksgiving. I had become shallow in my thankfulness."

May Thanksgiving this year be full of thankfulness and praise.

C. Thomas Wright, Ph.D. is Prayer Evangelism Associate at the North American Mission Board. For online copies of NAMB prayer resource visit www.namb.net/prayer.

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