"Your Godly Ones Shall Bless You"

Thankfulness should permeate the heart/mind of the redeemed. As we study God's Word and the Holy Spirit illumines our minds so that we may know God at an ever-increasing depth, such knowledge should manifest itself in the depth of our thankfulness to Him. Yesterday my son gave a devotion following Thanksgiving dinner. He raised a good question ... how is the thankfulness of the believer different from that of the unbeliever? What makes the thankfulness of a regenerated soul different? 

I've been thinking about his question ever since and concluded one difference is the object of our thanks. Believers are not "generally" thankful, but "specifically" thankful to God. They are able to see His hand working in their lives and able to trust Him in all circumstances because of their position "in Christ" and because of God's goodness.

Secondly, the believer has a lifestyle of thanksgiving. He realizes his daily dependence upon God and looks to Him as the author of all good things (James 1:17). A third difference should be the depth of our thankfulness. Those who have a knowledge of how much they have been forgiven are able to respond to God's amazing grace in their lives with deep thankfulness.

A fourth difference is that a thankful heart offered up to God in praise honors Him and reflects His glory in our lives. The psalmists call upon God's people to "give thanks" some 100 times in the Book of Psalms! They certainly understood the connection between thankfulness and praise.

I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.  (Ps.7:17)

So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise. (Ps.79:13)

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (Ps.107:1)

This post looks at a fifth difference - believers receive blessings as a result of having a heart/mind that dwells in thankfulness to our God and Savior.

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Thankfulness forces us to focus on what we have rather than what we want. 

In our materialistic culture, we can succumb to a consumerism of the soul that reduces our prayers to shopping lists. Thankfulness looks outward, not inward. It realigns our lives so that they revolve around God instead of trying to make God revolve around us.

Thankfulness highlights grace.  

To give thanks is to admit that you are dependent, to say, "I couldn't have done this on my own, but you helped me." Thanksgiving removes the temptation to boast and strengthens the only basis on which we can relate to God: that of accepting our own unworthiness and God’s free grace in Jesus Christ.

Thankfulness develops hope for the future.  

Looking backward to the past with thanksgiving actually helps us to look toward the future with anticipation.

Thankfulness regularly ensures that gratitude will spill over into every area of our lives.  

We cannot thank God for difficult colleagues, relatives, or neighbors for long before finding that we express a positive attitude toward them. Grumpiness and irritability do not grow well in a climate of gratitude. Those who regularly give thanks to God find they are ready to give to others. Gratitude and generosity go hand in hand.