In All Things Give Thanks!

Which would you be more thankful for… a sofa or a fish?

Keep reading, keep reading… there is a point to this new version of the “Would you rather?” game!

Thankfulness has been something that has been on my mind a lot recently and something that is a recurrent theme throughout Paul’s writings. When we pray he urges us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess 5:17), “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6) and of the Christians in Ephesus he said, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:16).

As I considered these verses I realised that I have much to be thankful for! In fact, what precipitated this thought process was my experience of “flat-sitting” over the past two weeks. Some of you may know that I have been on my mission field placement and one reason (amongst many!) I was so thankful for this placement was because it made me feel like an adult again (perhaps student life is a little overrated?!) I have never been so thankful for the sense of responsibility that “flat-sitting” gave me! This also involved the weighty responsibility of feeding a gold-fish and watering an Amaryllis (the former remains alive, the latter does not). Each time I sat on the sofa (I was probably marginally more thankful for the sofa than the fish – see question above) in a REAL living room… drinking a cup of tea made with water boiled in a REAL kettle… in a REAL kitchen I gave “thanks to the Lord, for he is good!” (Psalm 107:1). I hasten to add that there are real kettles and rooms in student accommodation, however when a sense of independence is taken away for a while it gives you a new appreciation for many of the things we often take for granted in life – things that are all good gifts from our Heavenly Father!

Yet so I often I forget this and become discontent. I was reading this week about the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 and was struck by the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). I have been greatly challenged by this and indeed this was reinforced by a little saying that I read recently that said, “The Best things in Life aren’t things”. So what is the best thing in life? David reminds us that it is the “steadfast love” of the Lord that “endures forever” (Psalm 107:1). He reminds us that we should “thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!” (Psalm 107).

So how do we see this “steadfast love” in our daily lives? I believe we see it in our friends, in our families, in our churches, when someone offers to meet you for coffee, when you get a ridiculous message to your family Whatsapp group, when someone prays with you, when you read the bible and it speaks right to your circumstances there and then! I could go on – God is good! He wants us to reflect that goodness and steadfast love to the world around us – to become more like His Son who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

In one of Paul Tripp’s latest blogs “What you were made to live for” he states:

*”We Were Made To Live For Community (Genesis 2:18)
We were made to need one another, and this community is meant to exist in a variety of forms: sibling, parent, spouse, neighbor, friend, teammate, co-worker, etc. This web of ongoing relationships requires us to live for more than just ourselves.”

Indeed I have seen an example of that sense of community lived out before my eyes over the past two weeks – showing love, spending time with people, getting to know your neighbours is something not to be underestimated. As John says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 1:18) How else are people to know that we are followers of Jesus? (John 13:34-35). How else are people to know that I am a REAL Christian? Do they see where the desires of my heart truly lie?

There is nothing wrong with wanting certain things in life, indeed the Lord Jesus tells us to be persistent in our asking, but there is a condition and that condition is that we seek His Kingdom first (Luke 11 and 12), which can I say is much easier to blog about in theory, than carry out in practice! However I love the words of David when he says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). When we seek His Kingdom first, our desires and His desires become as one.

I have just finished reading Isabel Kuhn’s book, “By Searching”. In this she speaks of investing time and energy in people. She says, “By searching for [the Lord], He makes us conscious of the need of others, and helps us cut channels by which He may be poured into their lives. In no time we find ourselves His fellow workers, and life is rich.” Life is rich! Yes, because we see the Lord at work, perhaps not always in the way we expect or want and perhaps in ways we will never understand, but life is rich because there is treasure in heaven! (Matthew 6)

Before I sign off I should say that I address these thoughts as much to my own heart as to anyone else. Indeed, as I write this, the words of “My Heart is filled with thankfulness” have been going over in my head and undoubtedly what better note to end on than thankfulness “To Him who bore my pain; Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace, And gave me life again!”**

*https://www.paultripp.com/wednesdays-word/posts/what-were-you-made-to-live-for

**http://www.gettymusic.com/my-heart-is-filled-with-thankfulness/