The Power of Thankfulness

Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! (Psalm 50:22-23)

God issues a stern rebuke and a warning of judgment to the person who forgets Him. And what is the evidence of forgetting God? Quite simply, it is a refusal to glorify Him through thanksgiving.

Notice what God says: "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me." Thus, the converse would also be true: "The one who refuses to offer thanksgiving as his sacrifice does not glorify Me."

Is it possible that the first step away from God is unthankfulness…and the first step back to Him is thankfulness?

Romans 1:21 would agree: 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.

Think about it for a moment. The first step away from God is unthankfulness.

I am created by God. I am dependent on Him. Everything I have in life is a gift of grace. Every breath is breathed in Him (Acts 17:28). I am owed nothing. I deserve nothing. Yet I refuse to acknowledge Him. I complain that He owes me more. I ignore Him. I run from Him. I go my own way as if I have control of my own life and destiny. 

Are we really that prideful? That ungrateful?

Shakespeare once said, "Worse than a serpent's bite is a thankless child." A loving parent knows this. To love and sacrifice for your children and then have them say, "What else are you going to do for me? I demand more," as if they are owed everything and appreciate nothing, frustrates, angers, and breaks a parent's heart.

How often are we the same way with God?

The first step back to God is to be thankful. 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

To stop and realize that life is a gift, that I am owed nothing, that because of my sin I only deserve death, that my life is not my own, that my very breath is in God's hands, that every good thing is from Him, is the beginning of true wisdom and life.

Such a realization humbles me and sets my life on the right course. Like the prodigal, I come home. And, according to Psalm 50:23, God shows me His salvation. 

I begin to see life through a new set of lenses…through the lenses of grace.

So take time today to count your blessings, to name them one by one, and tell someone else of the great things that God has done. 

This is thanksgiving. This is joy. And this glorifies God.

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