This week people all across America will be joining together with friends, family, or both to celebrate a time of Thanksgiving. One tradition that many people do is in some way list or number the things that we are grateful for. Some families may decide to go around the table and have everyone mention something they are thankful for before eating. However, we count our blessings it is important that we do so.

Why is it so important to show gratitude? It has long been discussed that one of many conditions surrounding a life of joy peace and overall happiness is one that is continually grateful. In 2003 the American Psychological Association published a study on this phenomenon. The study confirmed that many positive emotions became stronger when someone expressed an attitude of thankfulness. The paper went deeper in asking if thankfulness helped to cause contentedness or is this an attitude people who are content and happy express? Basically are positive emotions a result of expressing gratitude or is expressing gratitude a result of a genuinely joyful person? The conclusions to this study are interesting, but basically, they found that it is more likely that counting your blessings helps lead a person to a life of contentment. In return, this will help reduce stress and provide a person with an overall sense of joy. There will always be days this seems impossible but even taking five minutes meditating on things we need to be grateful for can impact how the rest of the day will play out.

The interesting point here is when expressing gratitude, it usually involves a person. Even a simple Google search for “how to express thankfulness” includes ways on how to thank a person. A genuine display of gratitude does not seem to be a list but rather includes a person. For instance “I am thankful for my kids” has a person involved with this expression. You are thankful for your children? Great! Actually showing them the gratitude you have for them and expressing why is what I am talking about. To simply say “I am thankful for my kids” is like an alcoholic admitting he has an alcoholic issue. In each case, a verbal admittance to something is only supposed to lead to further action. Just as an alcoholic is not supposed to stop at step one neither should our gratitude stop at a list provided around a table once a year. Instead, a true expression of gratitude is found in the actions toward the object of our thankfulness. There is always a place to list our blessings as this is the first step needed for action. But to end at a list will tend to discredit the genuine thankfulness we profess to have. Even if we are having a lousy day reciting the things we are thankful for can be helpful but physically expressing them takes a bad day and turns it into a great day.

The ultimate goal of writing is to point to Christ as the one who should be the one we are grateful for and the one to whom we demonstrate our thankfulness. I believe this can be demonstrated in a Bible story that seems to having nothing to do with Thanksgiving.

Mark 3:20-34 Describes a scene where Jesus has healed many people including a man with a shrivled hand. Those who were closest to Him came to take him into custody because they believed He has lost His mind. The people saw His healings and the way He was able to cast out demons so they accused Him of being possessed Himself by Satan. The following conversation is one that sees Jesus saying “a kingdom that is divided among itself will not stand” which is quickly followed by a rebuke “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness”. 

The natural question here is what does this story have anything to do with Thanksgiving? Well, I am glad you asked. You see, Jesus had provided the people with healings such as Simon’s mother in law from a fever. Those who were demon-possessed came to Him, and Jesus drove the demons out. If someone was paralyzed, he would find his way to Christ, and he would walk again. Leprosy? Not a problem. News would spread very quickly of these healings and, I would imagine the people being very thankful for this restoration of health. However, those in authority and even in His own family this healing was met with hostility. 

The issue is, not only did these people show no to very little gratitude for what Christ and was doing, they were not even attributing the good works He performed to the One who is worthy of them. No, the works that were being performed were attributed to Satan. So here we see gift after gift being provided to a community that was desperate for such gifts but the one who provided the gift was turned away and gratitude was given to an inappropriate source.  When God provides us with a gift it is important to give proper thanks to the source that provided that gift. If we do not there is only one other option to who “gets the credit”.

When we are given things that are good, we had better not say that the gift is not of God. When we do this, we deny the worship that is due only to God and puts us in danger of thinking we are higher than we are or placing something else in place of God.  When we lack thanksgiving toward God, we say “You don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve my adoration. Yes thank you for the gifts, but I don’t want you. I only want these blessings”. The problem is Christ has given us many reasons for us to be grateful. Yet, we do not give Him any of the credit. We are happy for our blessings but refuse to give credit to the gift giver. How would we react if during Christmas our loved one opens our costly gift yet never offers a hug, kiss, or even a thank you? If you’re like me, you’d probably think “how ungrateful” and take it as a rejection. You poured your heart, soul, and money into this lavish gift and they are more happy to express their love toward the gift you provided than to you. By loving the gift so much your loved one stops spending time with you and stops talking to you. How hurt would you be? That is all worship is. When we recognize God for the gifts, He has provided, and rightly attribute to Him the gratitude we feel, this is worship. 

Sadly, Christ will give us exactly what we want. If we say we do not want Him, by denying Him our worship, He will not force us to spend an eternity with Him.  When we spend more time with the gift and give our thanks toward the gift we are rejecting the gift giver. 

So take a moment this year and remember that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows.” Show Him gratitude by more than just words. Actually find ways to demonstrate how grateful you are to Him for your family, friends, food, pets, home, bed, clean water, air, or car. Don’t just express gratitude but demonstrate it as well. 

But above all thank Him for the life you have been given. It is no secret that we all deserve death. While those who follow Christ have found life; even those who have not put their faith in Him receive, every day, a life they do not deserve. Every morning when we wake up and are able to take a deep breath in is one more God has said: “I love you too much to see you die so choose me today and choose life.” Every day we are given a gift of life, and for that I am thankful. This is why I will try to speak life into the hurting, lend a hand to those who need it, and will love others the way Christ has first loved me. Above all God gets the Glory since He alone is worthy.