What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me?
As we get into the last quarter of the year, we can’t help but begin to take stock of what has happened in our lives for the past 9 months of the year as the days rapidly move on. These have been days which we haven’t had as much control as we may have wanted because of the Covid 19 pandemic or so we may think.
Many have been forced to spend time with those who they would rather have not spent time with if it were solely up to them. Most of us were forced to overhaul our calendar and do activities that we otherwise wouldn’t have time for. But then have we ever really had full control? Have we learned the lesson that it is God who gives grace for us to use our days as we please; for we shall give an account?
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the Bible tells us to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. This means that whatever circumstance we are in, we are expected to give thanks to God. We do not give thanks for an evil thing like a robbery, for example, but we give thanks to God that lives were preserved; that He knew full well what a particular day would bring; He remains our God and in command of the earth and our lives. It therefore means that in the good things we overflow with praise. In our routine life too, we overflow with praise for we have come to learn that even routines are a blessing. In the evil things, we give thanks not because God is a sadist who caused the evil but rather we find any good thing within our circumstance to give Him thanks. This is a command in the Bible even though we often take it as a suggestion. It is a requirement that we enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts. When we give thanks in the bad times, God’s comfort and strength is increased in what we are going through. It is a way of communicating to God that His position in our lives remains no matter what.
We are thankful to have Him. When we give thanks in the hard times, grace to endure abounds and the posture of our hearts remains as it should be so that in turn we can receive from God.
There are many delightful ways of giving thanks to God which any individual can come up with. In the Bible, there are examples of how we can give thanks to God and since He is blessed by our thanksgiving, we should continually do so.
Psalms 116 talks of giving to God an offering of thanksgiving, and fulfilling a personal promise or desire you may have made to Him.
Psalms 107:22 speaks of a song of joy and thanksgiving.
Many Psalms include a testimony element as the Psalmist describes his situation and God’s intervention.
Psalms 107:32 says, "Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders."
A common strand runs through the many ways we can give thanks to God, it is mostly done in public in order to glorify God. So go on and find those who you can tell what God has done for you in small and large audiences of His people.