Copyright © S P Townsend
One of the reasons why our attitude and practice with regard to giving can fall short of what God desires for us is our failure to give God appropriate thanks and glory for His provision to us.
A thankful heart indicates that we have a true appreciation of God’s providential care for us. If we truly believe that God, and God alone, provides all that we have, then we will thank Him for our possessions every time we use them. Many of us give thanks to God regularly at meal times. But it is not only food that comes from God’s hand. Why do we not likewise give thanks when we use our vacuum cleaner or drive the car, or write a cheque? I think the reason is that we can understand fairly easily that God is the provider of food, since without the rain and the sun, and the life within the seed, nothing would grow. But for some reason we place money and material possessions in another category, and act as though we ourselves were the essential providers of these things. But this is not the case. We receive income in return for our work and investments only because God gives the increase. When we don’t appreciate this we fail to give God the glory and thanks. Such lack of thankfulness is one reason why we can be reluctant to give with enthusiasm.
Sometimes we can lose sight of the blessings God has given us. We can focus instead on our perception of our needs, perhaps influenced by our comparing ourselves with others. It is possible then for bitterness to infect our thinking and our speech. But how different it is when we meet someone who is truly thankful, particularly if their life is touched by greater suffering than is normal. We expect their faces to be bitter and pinched, but instead they radiate joy. We expect them to complain about their lot, but instead they thank God at every opportunity.
Three times in these verses in the letter to the Colossians we are exhorted to express our thanks to God. Thankfulness not only transforms our giving. It transforms other areas of our lives too.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:18
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Rom 1:21
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. 1 Tim 4:4,5
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. Heb 12:28
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. Ps 40:3
Copyright © S P Townsend