Give Thanks Anyway

During the Thanksgiving season, it’s easy to lose our perspective and forget that we have so much to be thankful for.

Maybe you’re having a hard time right now. Maybe you’re having health, financial, or family problems. I don’t want to suggest, in any way, that these things aren’t difficult, because they are. Yet we still should give thanks.

That’s the reason that we were created. God put us on this earth to glorify Him and give thanks to His name. The Scriptures urge us again and again to do this. In Psalm 106:1, we read, “Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (NKJV).

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (NKJV).

Hebrews 13:15 tells us, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (NKJV).

Yes, praise and worship can be a sacrifice because we don’t necessarily want to do it. When we are discouraged or depressed, when things aren’t going that well or tragedy befalls us, we don’t feel like praising God.

But the Bible doesn’t say that we should praise the Lord only when we feel good. Rather, it says that we should always praise the Lord because He is good.

After Jesus healed ten men with leprosy, one of them, a Samaritan, returned to give thanks. Jesus asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17–18 NKJV).

Just like the Samaritan, we should be as definite about giving thanks as we are about asking for help. Have you given thanks to God for all He has done for you?