While there are many more reasons than three to be thankful to God, may the following three help all of us to see that having an attitude of gratitude should be the norm for the Christian, and in all situations.
It’s a command
(1 Thessalonians 5:18) tells us: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” My friends whenever the Scriptures tell us what God’s will for us is, we are expected to view this not just as a suggestion, but as God’s command for His children. And if God tells us to be thankful in all circumstances, both positive and negative, it must not only be possible to do, but for our good. Over and over again we read in the book of Deuteronomy how obeying God and following after His will is for our good.
For example just look at these verses from Deuteronomy:
“So, you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” (Deuteronomy 4:40).
“If only they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it would go well with them and with their sons forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).
“So, the Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our own good always and for our survival, as it is today.” (Deuteronomy 6:24).
“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 11:8).
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).
So when we read “in everything give thanks,” God knows that when we follow this injunction we will be blessed. But not only that, what is even more important – God will be glorified. And this leads us to reason two on why we should always be thankful.
It glorifies Jesus
One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is (Psalm 50:23). The NKJV translates it: “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me…” While the NIV says: “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me…” The reason this verse is so exciting is that when we praise Jesus, we glorify Him. And what can be more important than this. The NIV gives us the thought of giving the Lord a sacrifice of thanksgiving. In fact, this can seem like a sacrifice since our old nature is not in the habit of being thankful when things are not going well. But when we praise and thank God the Bible tells us we glorify and honor Him. And if you love Jesus this should be the cry of your heart at all times. This brings us to the third reason to always be thankful.
(Romans 8:28)
This special verse should be memorized by all believers. It read: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” And if all things work together for good then how can we not want to always be thankful. I really like what William Law shared here: “To be always in a thankful state of heart before God is not to be considered a high plane of spirituality but rather the normal attitude of one who believes that ‘all things work together for good to them that love God, who are called according to his purpose.’”1
Notice how Law says that to always be in a thankful state of heart should be the normal attitude of every Christian because we know that God is working all things together for good. And if God will bring a blessing out of even a tragedy, then a thankful heart is always appropriate.
So why should we always be thankful? May I challenge you to memorize (1 Thessalonians 5:18), (Psalm 50:23), and (Romans 8:28), and I think you will have your answer!