A Short talk on Thankfulness

I was recently asked to provide a 5-10 minute talk on being Thankful at an even here in Utah. Here are the notes I used for that talk which lasted 7:30 minutes. Please feel free to use this any way you might benefit from. - Robert

It is an old French proverb which says, “Ingratitude is the mother of all vice.” This is certainly in agreement with what God’s Word, the Bible, has to say concerning the matter.

At the heart of the indictments against humanity as listed in Romans 1, we are told this. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Ro. 1:21).”

In Luke 17 as Jesus entered a town on the border between Galilee and Samaria, He was confronted by a group of lepers who asked Him to heal them. He told them to go show themselves to the Priest, and as they were going, they were healed.

All of them should have been thankful, but only one of them, “. . . threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:16).

Isn’t it tragic that it was not the Jews who were healed, not the ones who called themselves “God’s People,” it was not the ones Jesus directed His ministry toward, primarily, who returned to say “thank you?”

It was the outsider, the cast away, the “un-worthy.” And isn’t it the same with us? How easy it is for those of us who have known Jesus the longest to be so quick to forget His goodness to us and fail to just say “Thank you.”

The tabernacle in the Old Testament represented the presence of God with His people, Israel. The innermost room was where the Ark of the Covenant sat and to approach the Ark, the presence of God, the High Priest had to enter through the gate, through the courts, and then into the inner sanctuary.

There was a Psalm which gave direction on how, even, to enter the Tabernacle. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”(Ps 100:4-5).

But how difficult is it to be truly thankful when nothing seems to be going the way we anticipated? When the loss column tallies more than the profit column. When the marriage fails. When the kids rebel. When the business partner betrays.

How do we give thanks when the difficult things happen? Economies fluctuate, opportunities dry up, and we accuse God of having let us down.

But His works are not the only basis for our gratitude. Psalm 103 says the people knew the WORKS of God, but Moses knew the WAYS of God.

The people saw what God DID and as long as He continued to DO, they were happy. But when the manna got boring, when the water was bitter, when difficulty came, they all voted to go back to Egypt.

But Moses knew WHY God did what He did, and behind the WHAT, is the WHY, and behind the WHY, is the WHO, and the same Psalm which tells us to: Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Continues with: Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Ps 100:4-5).

But then the next verse tells us WHY we should be thankful when it says: For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

When sickness strikes, He is still good.

When relationships fail, He is still loving.

When finances run low, He is still faithful.

And for these immutables, for these unchangables of God, we say, “Thank You.”

No matter the circumstances, we can still say: “Thank You.”

No matter the “light and momentary afflictions,” we say: “Thank You.”

Not for the hardship itself, necessarily, but assuredly for His unwavering goodness, love, and faithfulness in ALL circumstances, WE say: “Thank You!!”