What is Christian thankfulness?
Christian thankfulness is responding in faith to God‘s goodness in Christ. We believe that God is generous and giving. He demonstrates His goodness in creation, in providence, but preeminently in His Son, Jesus Christ.
We often hear non-Christians say that they are thankful for some benefit or blessing received, but without identifying the source of the blessing or the object of their thankfulness. Such unbelieving gratitude is like the altar to the unknown God in Acts 17:23 – mere religious superstition.
Christian thankfulness is Christian worship. We believe in the goodness of God. Our very existence and the existence of all things in the created universe demonstrates His goodness, Genesis 1:31. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
We cultivate worship and gratitude by remembering that God is good, by conversations about His goodness, and by meditating on His goodness in Christ. We can arouse the virtue of gratitude in one another by merely observing the beauty of sky, sea, forest, and mountain. We can ask our children or grandchildren, “What do you see around you that you are thankful for?” Such questions lead us to recognize God‘s goodness and to give Him glory and praise. Showing gratitude to clerks, police officers, waitresses, etc. can open a door for sharing God’s goodness in Christ.
When Moses prayed for God to show him His glory, God responded by declaring His goodness, Exodus 33:18-19. But the greatest expression of God’s goodness is the cross. God loved the world and gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, John 3:16; Galatians 2:20.
Sam Crabtree defines gratitude as, “...the divinely given spiritual ability to see grace, and the corresponding desire to affirm it and it’s giver as good,” (Practicing Thankfulness, p.18). So the Psalmist invites us to, “Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Psalm 34:8.
~ Bob