Giving Thanks Always

Ephesians 5: 19 - 20

Today, I am especially thankful to the Lord. Towards the end of Ephesians, Paul instructs the church saying “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In keeping with these instructions, here are a few verses from the Psalms that speak of giving thanks.

Psalm 44: 7-8 “But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.

Psalm 100: 4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name!”

Psalm 107:8-9 “Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”

Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Psalm 147:7-8,11b “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills...the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”

When we give thanks using these Psalms, we do so as Christians thinking of Jesus. Jesus is the one who has saved us from our greatest foe the devil and our own sin. Because of the cross, we can enter the gates of heaven forever to praise our God. Jesus has given us bread and drink for our soul that fully satisfies. In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we see the fullness of the goodness of God. Finally, because of Jesus, we have everything we need for this life and the next, and in him, we have come to revere and love God.

It is right and good to give thanks to our God, especially focusing on our Lord Jesus Christ. May a day of thanksgiving be kind to your soul.

Prayer: Our heavenly Father, we thank you for being our Father and for loving us and saving us in your son, Jesus. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us. Thank you for sending the Spirit to cause us to believe and to grow in love for you. Thank you for this day and for all that you have made and are doing in our lives. Today, help us to give thanks for everything that happens and especially for you.

Amen