Is Thanksgiving Enough?

Have you ever thought about how vital thanksgiving is to the Lord God? As believers we may well toss the word around pretty freely. That is not a bad thing. We should be most grateful and thankful to the God of all creation. Everything we have, even the next breath you take, is a gift from Him. He is indeed worthy of our thanks and appreciation. God even included offerings of thanksgiving in Torah (see Leviticus 7:12). David records offering a thank offering in Psalm 116:17, "I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD." Hezekiah does the same in 2Ch 29:31. Thanksgiving and thank offerings were a part of the worship practices for the people of Israel. As those who now know Messiah, we are called to be thankful for ... well ... everything, "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In writing to the Romans the Apostle Paul gives an indictment against those who reject God. In the midst of the record of man's rejection and ungodliness Paul says, "because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:21). Those who refuse to give thanks to God are designated as fools and futile thinkers. Not a group many of us would want to be included in.

Thankfulness is an essential part in our relationship with God, but is it enough? Gratitude and a thankful heart are pleasing to the LORD. However, bringing God a thank offering, or an offering of thanksgiving is not all that is required. Thankfulness also acknowledges who God is. It reflects on what He has done and His very nature. Thus Samuel reminds us, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). An attitude of thanksgiving without an attitude of submissive obedience falls short of what God deserves. It falls short of what He requires.

Perhaps our culture gets in the way when we consider the things that we learn are required to be pleasing God. We tend to look at the list of what we think God requires and do a little personal evaluation. I am to be thankful, trustworthy, faithful, humble, obedient, generous, and joyful. Just a few of the things we could put on our "pleasing to God" list. There are certainly many more that could come to mind. We should probably tack on the rest of the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit as they are of the Spirit. Then there are those negative things, like do not covet, do not be angry, do not judge. This could get cumbersome, maybe even intimidating or discouraging. We could opt out with the excuse/reason that we all fall short and apply the Jesus salve. You know, that soothing spiritual ointment that says all my sins are forgiven so the list doesn't really matter anyway. If this is so then we have a lot of irrelevant Scripture and unnecessary stories recorded in the Bible. It appears that all the stuff we could put on the list matters. So how do we prioritize? It seems obedience is better than sacrifice but thankfulness should be pretty high on the list as well.

The issue is not what is on the list or how to prioritize the list. The issue is the list itself. American/Western culture loves lists. We love to compartmentalize everything in life. God reveals Himself through a culture that is integrated. When Jesus said, "If you continually love Me it is imperative that you actively keep My commandments" (John 14:15). He was giving less of a rule and more of a statement. The natural outgrowth of honestly loving Him is obedience. Obedience is not a list of rules, it is the reality of a life that is integrated into the Person of God. All of those "do's" and "don'ts" listed above, and any other things you might add, are not to be a list but the substance of our relationship with God. In being thankful we are also loving and joyful and compassionate. Our gratitude is shown in our forgiving and generosity. Even what we choose not to do, like holding a grudge, gossiping, or coveting, is controlled by the attitude of gratitude that pervades our existence. Bringing a thank offering while being at odds with another reflects the truth that you are not really thankful. One who fully understands why they are thankful to a holy God would desire reconciliation before the offering.

Matthew 5:24 makes this pretty clear, “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." We are not being told to have a check list before we come to worship but to know that my relationship with my brother is related to, integrated with, my relationship with the Lord.

We might want to take a moment at this Thanksgiving Season and think about how all those things on our "how to be spiritual" list are connected. To consider the truth that the Lord has not called you to a list but invited you into a relationship where everything you do is integrated into Who He is. Go ahead and bask in the wonder that He really does care about every little aspect of your life. That the life He provided is to be lived abundantly, not chained to a list. Now go and have a Happy Thanksgiving.