Thanksgiving: All About Jesus

​Thanksgiving is next week! That means my sister will be home from college, I'll get to see lots of family, and eat lots of delicious food!

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I'm writing about, well, thanksgiving. Last week the post answered the question, “Why is thanksgiving God's will for me?” I wrote about the power of thankfulness to humble and uplift.

This week, I'd like to answer another question: How can I be thankful always?

Since thankfulness is God's will for us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), how can we develop a grateful heart, an “attitude of gratitude”, and truly be thankful?

A life of thanksgiving comes from living in Jesus:

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”   Colossians 2:6-7

We see in this verse that a growing relationship with Jesus results in an overflowing of thanksgiving. When we live by the Spirit, we do not give in to sinful desires, such as selfishness, pride, and jealousy (Galatians 5:16-21). These are things that get in the way of thankfulness.
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When our eyes are turned to ourselves and what we want, we fail to acknowledge (or even notice) God's working. We cannot be grateful for what we have and what God has done because we are to busy wanting more and wishing we were better off. And that is a dangerous place to be.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him not gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:21

As we grow in Jesus, our heart becomes more grateful, and as our heart becomes more grateful, there is less room for selfishness and pride to creep in.

Thanksgiving is all about Jesus. Each expression of thanksgiving should be an acknowledgment and praise of the perfect character of Christ. We thank Him for His blessings, as they reveal His love, kindness and generosity. We thank Him amidst hard and painful times, trusting Him to provide and protect. To to know what true gratitude is, and how to be thankful, we must start with the reason for our thankfulness: Jesus.

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is My body.'
"Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'” Matthew 26:26-28

During this meal with His disciples, Jesus gave thanks for the drink and the bread. Now, He wasn't giving thanks for your average meal. Jesus Himself spoke of this meal as a foreshadowing of what was going to happen to Him; of the gruesome, painful, horrible death He would suffer. He knew He was about to be betrayed by one of His disciples and arrested. He knew another would deny Him as He was spit on, beaten and mocked. He knew He would be taking the punishment you and I deserve. Yet He still gave thanks to God.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful me, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3

Jesus knew that, though there was death before Him, there was also joy before Him. God's will and promises would be fulfilled, Jesus would be raised to life, and it would possible for us to have right relationship with Him. So as He stared death down, Jesus looked to God in thankfulness, and endured. The verse above promises that we, too, will endure when we look to Jesus.

If we base our gratitude on what we have, or how we feel. or our situations, then, when you didn't get enough sleep because you were studying for a test, which by the way you didn't pass, and you're not getting along with your coworkers, and your friend just gossiped about you, and you just broke up with your boyfriend, and your childhood pet died, and your having to skip going to the movies because you don't have enough money, and your feeling insecure about your body because you just discovered that cute dress no longer fits, and there is no ice cream in the house, and little sibling just got on your last nerve, and on top of all that you're feeling lonely, sad, confused... at those times thankfulness will go down the drain, taking joy and peace along with it.

But if our gratitude is based on Jesus, who He is, what He has done and is doing, and what He has promised, then when those hard situations and feelings arise, our eyes will be on Jesus and thankfulness will overflow.
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This doesn't mean we have to like the situations, or thank God for the bad that comes, but rather, thank Him that He is still there, still loving, still good, still hearing, still working, still in control.

To develop a grateful heart, we must daily choose to live in Jesus and to focus on Him rather than ourselves or our circumstances. This takes some work on our part. We must learn to check our thoughts and attitudes. When we find ourselves complaining or grumbling, we must replace that with thanksgiving and praise.

Below are some Scripture verses of thanksgiving to God for who He is, what He has done and His promises. Perhaps you would like to pick a couple to memorize or write on an index card to have as a reminder anytime you find yourself being ungrateful.

“Thanks be to God! He give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
​1 Corinthians 15:57

“Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name.” 1 Chronicles 29:13

“I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness.” Psalm 7:17

“At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:62

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:25

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [God's surpassing grace]!” 2 Corinthians 9:15

Let us overflow with thankfulness.

The post Thanksgiving: All About Jesus first appeared on The Overflowing
​All Scriptures from the NIV