November is the time of year when our society reminds us to give thanks. Stores put on Thanksgiving sales, card companies produce Thanksgiving cards and we celebrate the Thanksgiving season with family gatherings from near and far, and more food than anyone should eat. While the commercial world only focuses on the giving of thanks once a year, our Christian walk should be filled with the continual giving of thanks with an attitude of gratitude.
The Bible, especially the Book of Psalms, is replete with reminders to give thanks, especially to the Lord “for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (Ps. 106:1 KJV). Merrill Unger, in Unger’s Bible Dictionary, refers to thanksgiving as an “obligation of godliness.” He further refers to thanksgiving as “the grace of God in Christ, operating in the soul of the believer as a principle and going back to Him in gratitude.”
Our grateful expressions to [God] not only express our feelings of gratitude, but in so doing we are conveying worthship to God.
“Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15 KJV) is an expression of gratitude that recognizes the position of God as related to the position of mankind. It clearly establishes God as being the benefactor, he who has something to give, and us as being those who are in need of his gift. Our expressions of gratefulness for what he has done for us, clearly convey the truth that it is we who need him and not he who needs us.
The giving of thanks is an important factor in our worship of God. The term worship comes from an old English word, worthship. To bestow worthship means that we have recognized the worth of someone in our lives. While we don’t worship each other, we do give recognition of others’ importance to us. We thank those around us for whatever it is that they have done for us. When I spent time in the hospital, I was determined to be a good patient and made sure to thank the nurses for everything they did every time they did it. They were people of worth to me and I wanted them to know that.
When we refer to worship in the Christian world, we are speaking of an expression to God. Our grateful expressions to him not only express our feelings of gratitude, but in so doing we are conveying worthship to God, giving him his rightful place and communicating to him how much we value his worth in our lives. A hymn says, “Without him I could do nothing, without him I’d surely fail; without him I would be drifting, like a ship without a sail.” 1
The gist of my prayers have changed over the years. I still ask God for his favor in my life, but now, much more than when I was younger, I am asking God for the benefit of others who are in need. I am thanking him more now for what he has done for me than I am asking him for anything.
Another song says, “Thou art worthy, thou are worthy, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, glory and honor, glory and honor and pow’r.”2 It was important to me that the nurses, who were taking care of me when I could not take care of myself, understood through my own testimony what they were worth to me. How much more so, do I want God to know how much he is worth to me in my life. Among all the other things that are a normal part of living for him, I will continue to bestow worthship on him with the daily giving of thanks. I want him to hear it straight from me. Thank you, God!
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1 “Without Him” words and music by Mylon LeFevre, © 1963 Angel Band Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
2 “Thou Art Worthy” words and music by Pauline Michael Mills, © 1975 Fred Bock Music Company
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