I Thessalonians 5:18 – “Thankfulness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁶Be being joyful always. ¹⁷Be praying constantly. ¹⁸Be being thankful in everything, for this [is] [the] desire of God in Christ Jesus into you.

Thankfulness is an interesting thing. As I belabored in my last study, the statement “For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” may be pointing specifically to this business of being “thankful in everything.” It might also be referring to the entire triad of vv.16-18, but, regardless, it is obviously something high on the Lord’s priority list for us. It is His will for us, His desire for us.

I think it interesting to compare vv16-18 to Phil 4:4-7: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! …  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, …” Joyfulness, prayer, and thanksgiving. Those same elements, which Paul tells us there in Philippians are essential to our knowing that “peace which passes understanding.” But I have always thought it curious how the Lord injects into Phil 4:4-7 the “with thanksgiving.” I’ve often wondered, as I prayed over things, “Am I being thankful?” -- knowing from Philippians it is essential to really knowing peace.

We also know the Lord chose to include in His Scriptures one parable specifically about thankfulness – the ten cleansed lepers, of whom only one returned to thank Jesus. “Where are the other nine,” He asked. It is easy in our hearts to condemn the other nine, but do we really think we do much better? Do I render to the Lord the thankfulness He deserves for all the blessings and grace He showers on me? I’m sure I don’t.

But then, in my own life, in spite of my resolve to “be thankful,” I have found its consistent practice elusive. I like a quote I ran across:

“It is not to be reached by a single resolution, or in a day by an outburst of excited feeling. We may say sincerely, henceforth I resolve to trust God in everything. But little vexations soon shake our trust; greater troubles break down our resolution; the emotion has declined, and we say, “No man can be always thankful.” It is the gradual result of a life of earnest fellowship with God--a life that in daily meditation realizes the presence of the Father; that by prayer feels the reality of God’s love--that comes at length to walk through all toils and temptations under a deep sense of the all-surrounding God” (E. L. Hull, B. A.).

“…the gradual result of a life of earnest fellowship with God … under a deep sense of the all-surrounding God.” Hull’s words seem more in keeping with my own experience. Although I could try to “be thankful” at specific times, what I have found is that becoming a thankful person has been a slowly growing reality and that it almost entirely arises from the closeness of my heart to God. The more I know Him, the more I let His grace amaze me, the more I see His ever-present hand around me, the more calm and thankful I become.

I suppose, like the nine, we most naturally see the blessings, not the Blesser. I suppose too perhaps it’s part of the impetuousness of youth to be in too big a hurry to look past the blessings to see the Blesser. Maybe some of it just comes with age, with the slowing down so we do see past the blessings? I don’t know. But there’s no question it has been a growing thing in my own heart and again, it seems to have grown in direct proportion to my relationship with God. The more I see Him, the more I simply am thankful. Interesting back in Phil 4:4-7, right in the middle are the words, “The Lord is at hand.” He has to be, or none of the rest of it works.

I also think it’s interesting to note the statement, “For this is the will of God for you.” I’ll go ahead and include the whole triad in this thought, but isn’t it interesting that what the Lord wants for you and me is joyfulness, prayer, and thankfulness. His desire for us, His intent for us, is that we be joyful, praying, thankful people. As I often point out, the world has this perverted view of God, that He is the cosmic kill-joy, that He makes people into dour, gloomy people, that all He cares is that we keep His rules. That is so sad, when the Bible would tell us what He wants for us is love and joy and peace, joyfulness and prayer and thankfulness. The world forgets that He is the God who plans to give us heaven -- an eternity of uninterrupted happiness! That same God wants you and me to enjoy heaven’s blessings even while we live here on earth. The only thing preventing us from enjoying all of those blessings is our own sinfulness. It’s not Him who withholds joy from us, it’s us!

What a wonderful God we serve – to think His will for us is that we enjoy joyfulness, prayer, and thankfulness.

The more we know Him, the more we’ll enjoy of His blessings, and the more thankful we’ll become!

Isn’t that something to be thankful for!