Giving Thanks

2 Corinthians 4:15

For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 

This is the time of year we think a little more about the subject of thankfulness. Of course we should be thankful all year and we all know that the holiday of Thanksgiving is the neglected holiday sandwiched between the early Christmas shopping holiday and the actual Advent season. However nice holidays are, they are not the only reason to reflect upon such matters.

I've read blogs and articles on thankfulness and our need to be more thankful. This got me thinking. I'm not sure I've seen too many gospel centered thankfulness posts.

What Do I Mean?

The scripture referenced above is from Paul's letter to the Corinthians. In the fourth chapter he is describing the gospel in a powerful way. It's not of ourselves it's of God. Even what we proclaim is not ourselves but rather Jesus Christ. It is a treasure and the power of Jesus Christ. Though persecuted, pressed, crushed, and afflicted we are not despairing. What a testimony of the grace of God. The end of this chapter has become one of my favorite passages. I love the comparison made between earthly suffering and eternal glory. All of the things here on earth have an eternal purpose.

This isn't necessarily about those verses though but right before it we have three verses that tell us something interesting about thankfulness. The interesting thing is the source of that thankfulness.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

In verse 13 Paul tells us that he speaks because he believes. Verse 14 tells us that the power of the resurrected savior will bring us into His presence. Finally we get to verse 15. We see that the grace of God, as it extends to more and more people, will increase thanksgiving.

The Grace of God Produces Thanksgiving

The more I learn of the gospel the more I see that everything has it's source in the grace of God. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that we start our worship from the position of rest, our week begins (on Sunday) with worship centered around Jesus Christ because He is our rest. He is our Sabbath. So it is with our thanksgiving. It starts from rest.

There are imperatives in Scripture encouraging us to give thanks and to rejoice. What I see Paul saying here is that the source of that is the grace of God. If you want to be more thankful, look to Christ. As Paul says "we also believe, and so we also speak." Believe and thanksgiving will abound.

Because of the grace of God we can proclaim just as Psalm 9:1 does:

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

Give thanks this season knowing that the source of your thankfulness is all wrapped up in Jesus. As you gather around the table consider the table Jesus has spread before you. The feast that is the grace of God. He is the source, the reason, and the power. He will fill your heart with gratefulness and joy. That is my prayer for you, that Jesus would so fill your heart with gratefulness and joy that it would abound and extend to more and more people, all for the glory of God.

Happy Thanksgiving.