Giving Thanks
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalms 100: 4
David in the above song, encourages us to come to God with thanksgiving in our hearts. We enter this ‘Thanksgiving’ season and think of turkey, football, and shopping. That’s the world we live in. But as Christians, we need to look deeper into the word thanksgiving to see what David is really talking about.
In Greek the word translated thanksgiving is eucharistia from which other faiths get the word ‘eucharist.’ The Eucharist is equivalent to our communion. Isn’t it interesting that the word thanksgiving is used to represent this coming together in the remembrance of humanity’s greatest gift?
David encourages us to be thankful and joyful as we enter his gates. When was the last time you were truly thankful and joyful about the many gifts of God? How did you express that thankfulness and joy?
Paul in writing to Timothy tells us to be thankful for everyone. That is a tall order. Some people are not nice. Even before writing this in 1 Tim 2:1, Paul tells Timothy he’s turned over two people to Satan to “be taught not to blaspheme.” (1 Tim 1: 20) So can we give thanks for all people and still not like them? Paul tells us that the goal of his teaching is “love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Tim 1:5) We are told here that the love we need is generated from within and according to Paul is applicable to everyone.
Giving thanks is a state of mind. We must overcome the world with love while continuing to focus on God and his great grace to us sinners. If we love like God loves, then we won’t have to be reminded to give thanks for everyone. We will do it because God does.
Scripture: 1 Timothy 2: 1-6
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