Being thankful is something we begin to learn at an early age when our parents tell us to say “thank you” when we receive a gift. As Christians we want our thankfulness to be more than just a mindless habit; we want it to be a discipline. The reason I say this is because we can do something as a habit and not be mindful of what we are doing; such as closing the garage door when pulling out of our driveway, and then half a block away wonder if we closed it! We want out thankfulness to be mindful of why and to whom we are grateful.

We should exercise our thankfulness to God every day for who He is and has done for us. If you think you haven’t a lot to be thankful for – think again – if you are reading this post – your alive and need to thank God for the life you have. Even if you have health or financial problems or perhaps a strained relationship with a family member or a friend, you can find something to be thankful for.  After all, as Christians, we can always be grateful for our Salvation in Jesus; that for sure is a good start.

There are many Scriptures we could quote on being thankful or giving thanks; I’m sure you probably have one or two favorite of your own. However, when I was thinking about writing this post on being thankful, the Lord took me to Luke 16:10-13. Here Jesus is teaching disciples and says, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” You could say it this way; “he who is faithful in giving thanks in the least is faith in much; and he who is unjust by not giving thanks in the least is unjust in not giving thanks in much.”

You might be wondering how and why it would be unjust if we fail to be thankful, and I think it has to do with where we place our focus. If we are not focusing on who God is and what He is doing in our lives, then our focus is elsewhere. Wherever we place our focus, that’s where our faith will be the strongest. If we keep our focus and attention on the problems we might be having, the stronger doubt and fear will arise in our hearts; BUT if we keep our focus and attention on God and His Word the stronger our faith and hope will be in God. It’s that simple.

Psalm 78:7 says, “that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments.” According to this, if we forget what God has done it will take us in a progression of not keeping His commandments. This is what happened with the Israelites coming from Egypt and about to enter the Promise Land; they forgot what God had done and it cause a lack of faith in God to help them to take the Land.  They were looking at the report about the giants instead of the report of God’s faithfulness. They forgot to be thankful for His provision and it cost them the right of passage into the Promise Land. They forgot to be thankful for the “least” (or little things) of God’s help and then couldn’t believe and be thankful for the “much” that God wanted to take them into. Only Joshua and Caleb, from that generation kept their faith and therefore were rewarded with entering into the Promise Land.

Not remembering who God is and what He has done is a sign of an ungrateful heart, and that is a dangerous place to be. What comes to mind is that of Lucifer. He was not grateful for the relationship he had with God or his position in the Kingdom of God, and it got him over into pride to try to exalt himself above God. Pride always causes a person to try to justify their own self-respect and desires.

I submit to you that the more conscience we are of our Lord in us and beside us throughout our day, the more aware we will be of all the things we should be thankful for, and, the more we will give voice of our gratefulness to our God. Gratefulness conditions our heart for our faith to grow strong, and culminates our faith (to reach the highest point) to receive from God what we need: love, forgiveness, correction, healing, strength, and courage, etc., Being thankful results in bringing us in a closer intimate relationship with God.

My prayer for you this Thanksgiving is that you give your heart-felt gratitude a voice of giving thanks to God every day for all His blessings because Thanksgiving should not be just once a year but be the discipline of our life.