Thanks is a God Thing

Spirituality Column #159
November 24, 2009
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Thanks is a God Thing
By Bob Walters

Maybe it is so obviously a “God thing” that we don’t give it a second thought, but the simple word “thanks” has little meaning without God.

At least that’s what the Bible seems to say.

We learn early in American life that the magic words of our culture are “please” and “thank you.” “Please” expresses humility and requests a kindness or indulgence; “Thank you” acknowledges a kindness or indulgence.

“Please” appears throughout the Bible (225 times in the NIV), split evenly addressing requests both to God and among people.

“Thanks,” “thank you” and “thanksgiving” show up 144 times, 141 of them referring to God.

This is what convinces me Thanksgiving is a religious holiday.

“Give thanks to the Lord” and “thanks be to God” are two of the most common phrases in the Bible, stretching through both the Old and New Testaments.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever” is a constant refrain in the Old Testament (e.g. Psalm 106:1, 107:1, 118:1 and others), and provides the opening phrase of one of contemporary worship’s most popular songs, “Forever God is Faithful” by Michael W. Smith.

The line, however, does not appear in the New Testament.

Instead, the focus of New Testament “thanks” is very often on food: most especially on our communion with Christ represented by bread and wine. Jesus, the Apostles, the early Christians … never eat without giving thanks to God.

Which brings us to the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

It is a happy, collegial stuff-fest in most homes. We gather with our families and eat too much … surely a blessing of abundance. An even greater blessing is had by the people who feed strangers on Thanksgiving at community feasts.

God has certainly shed great grace on us, but my concern isn’t that we eat too much; it’s that on Thanksgiving, we pray too little, or pray from the wrong point of view.

The worst prayer in the Bible is described in Luke 18:11: “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.”

How good and pleasing it is to pray a prayer of deep thanks, in faith with humility and love, and not with the Pharisee’s pride.

Pray, and be glad, and give thanks unto the Lord. Happy Thanksgiving.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com) thanks God daily for the love of his children, the grace of our being and the beauty of this world.