A teaching on Giving Thanks
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:18-23 NIV
All almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, has made His presence and His character known to us. When we look at His handiwork, we see where He has been and what He has done. Nothing we see in the world around us, nothing we have and use in our daily life, just appeared from nowhere. None of these things materialized independently. Somewhere, someone had an idea, someone formed a plan, someone gathered the necessary materials, and someone worked to make or build that thing. Just as an architect draws a plan and a builder follows the plan to build a building, so this universe and all that is in it was invented and created by God. He is the planner and the executor of His creation, which includes you and me.
It is a slap in God’s face to deny His existence and to worship the creation instead of the Creator. We must glorify Him by acknowledging His presence and His handiwork and by giving Him thanks.
Everything we have belongs to Him and was offered freely to us. Therefore we are exceedingly selfish and ungrateful if we do not acknowledge Him or give Him thanks for it all – for creating us and for so graciously allowing us to freely enjoy the blessings of all of creation.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV
We must recognize God for who He really is, not just for who we think He is or is not – otherwise we believe a lie. God exists, whether man believes it or not. He does not exist just because we believe He exists, He just IS! He even called Himself “I AM” when Moses asked for His name. Gravity exists whether you believe in it or not. It exerts an influence over your body no matter how much you deny it. Just try to jump off a high tower without a parachute and you’ll know that gravity is real and it worked for you! God exists. We need to get the revelation!
God wants us to know that He is real and at the same time He wants us to know Him and to know how He feels about us. He is a rewarder by nature, not a destroyer. People who think that God is out to destroy them cannot have the relationship with God that they could and should. We need to know that God made us, and everything around us, and that He loves us. We need to give thanks and be thankful and grateful to Him!
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalms 100:1-5 NIV
Rejoice and be thankful! God made you and He loves you. He is eternally faithful and He will never let you down. He is deserving of all your love and praise. Be joyful, be glad, shout for joy and praise Him. You have a reason to thank and praise Him. He is good and His love, kindness and mercy will never cease or fail. You can praise him because you can always count on Him – no matter what. What a great God we serve! He is truly worthy of all our praise and thanksgiving.
