Thanksgiving Power
In Luke 17, out of the ten lepers healed by Jesus, only one man scrambled back to say thanks. I am sure that the other nine had an attitude of thanksgiving but never applied their gratitude. The power of saying thanks is a simple thing, but often hard to do. A friend of mine says that unexpressed gratitude can often be interpreted as being unthankful. Sometimes it can even be viewed as arrogance or ignorance!
Every day is Thanksgiving for a Christian.
Thanksgiving should be the theme song for followers of Christ. We should have thanksgiving flowing from our lips daily. The people we connect with should be soaked with thanks because we are overflowing with gratitude.
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
– Colossians 2:6-7 (NLT)
A Thanksgiving what-if?
Thankfulness overflows if we have deep roots in Jesus Christ and if our lives are built on Him. Is it any wonder that thankfulness is in short supply? As followers of Christ, if we are over-filled with God, then we overflow with thanksgiving. Otherwise, we are just selfish and stingy like the world. Unfortunately, there isn’t a culture of thanksgiving in today’s ungrateful society.
I have to admit, I am great at thanking God for the people in my life during prayer time, but I’m not very good at putting that attitude of gratitude into action. I often fail to overflow with words of thanksgiving to others. My attitude is good, but my actions are lacking.
When we overflow with thanksgiving, it shows in everything: our speech, attitude, and actions. We are first thankful to God and then thankful for our family, job, church, friends, neighbors, and even our boss. We are even thankful for the tough times, because as Romans 5:3 states, “we also rejoice in our afflictions because we know afflictions produce endurance.” So, we must learn to do better at the following:
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”
– Proverbs 3:27
Pray in thanks, then say it!
Pray it, but make sure you say it! No more withholding blessing and thanksgiving from those who deserve it. What are you waiting for? Be sure you tell others how grateful you are for them. This is the power of thanksgiving in the action. Think about it.
So, What’s The Play Call?
- Are you thankful? Would others say you have a heart of thankfulness? Why or why not?
- List three people you are thankful for and why.
- What are the things that prevent you from expressing your thanks?
- Time to act: now go tell those three people that you are thankful for them.
