HOW SHOULD ONE GIVE THANKS TO GOD?

Last Sunday we looked at “Why one should give God thanks. Today we are going to look at “HOW ONE SHOULD GIVE GOD THANKS!”

1 Samuel 12:24 says, “Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.”

Psalm 42:4 says, “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me…”

When I remember which things? When I remember all the wonderful things the LORD has done for me. It is one thing to BE thankful unto God. It is another thing to GIVE God thanks.

What does it mean to be thankful? To be thankful is to have an attitude of thanksgiving. It is to have an attitude of gratitude.

What does it mean to give thanks? Giving thanks is to express your thanks. It is to demonstrate your thanks.

How should one demonstrate or express his/her gratitude to God? To show [express, demonstrate] your gratitude to God you should:

a) Express thankfulness with music and singing.

“That day David gave to Asaph and his fellow Levites this song of thanksgiving to the LORD” (1 Chron. 16:7).

“Sing out your thanks to the Lord; sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps” (Ps. 147:7).

“…Sing Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts” (Col. 3:16).

b) Express thankfulness by praising and honouring Him. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name” (Ps. 100:4).

“Sing out your thanks to the LORD; sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps” (Ps. 147:7).

“Praise the LORD! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with His godly people. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in Him should ponder them” (Ps. 111:1-2).

c) We show thankfulness to God through prayer. “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart” (Col. 4:2).

d) We show thankfulness to God by living as we should. “When I learn your righteous laws, I will thank You by living as I should!” (Ps. 119:7).

“Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done [for you]” (Col. 2:7).

e) We show thankfulness to God by giving back to Him quality seed out of the abundance He has blessed us with.

One of the ways to demonstrate your gratitude for all the good God has done for you this year is by giving back to Him out of the abundance He has blessed you with.

How should thanksgiving be done? It has to be a sacrificial giving.

Psalm 107:22 says, “And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His (mighty, wonderful) works with rejoicing.”

A sacrifice means that it will cost you something. That is to say that what you are giving God as a thanksgiving offering must be a sacrifice. It was not convenient for you at all but you just had to go an extra mile to do it.

How then should one give of his resources? Look at an example in Genesis 4:1-10. In Genesis 4:3, the Bible says, “And in the process of time…” 

When? When it was the time to appreciate God for His goodness and faithfulness. When it was time to thank Him for His bountiful (uncountable) blessings. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground – of his substance. 

In Genesis 4:4, Abel also brought of the firstlings [not secondlings – Nke ajuru aju; leftovers] of his flock - that is, the best of his flock. Abel gave the fattest of the firstborn of his flock.

Abel understood God. He knew that God always gives us the best because He is a God that believes in excellence.

In John 3:16, the Scriptures say, “For God so love the world that He gave His only [the best, second to none] begotten Son…..”

If Jesus is not the Master of all in your life including your finances, He is the not Master at all.

In 2 Corinthians 9:15, it is written, “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift.

God demands that we give Him the best of our best having shown us an example to follow. He demanded that of Abraham.

He said to Abraham, “…Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest,….and offer him to Me (Gen. 12:1-2).

In Exodus 12:5 God said, “Your lamb [thanksgiving offering] shall be without blemish.”

God is reminding us today to use our best to give Him thanks. When He has seen your heart that you are willing to obey His Word, He will provide you a sacrificial lamb because He is Jehovah Jireh (Gen. 22:13-14). He will give you the seed to sow because He is the One that gives seed to the sower (2 Cor. 9:10).

And the Lord accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. Why? Is God partial? Certainly not because the Scriptures say that God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 10:12).

In Acts 10:34-36 Apostle Peter said, “…Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.”

Romans 10:12 says, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.”

Abel’s sacrifice was accepted because he offered the right kind of sacrifice - that is, a firstling, not deformed, healthy and fat - in FAITH! How?

“By faith Abel offered to God A MORE EXCELLENT SACRIFICE than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Heb. 11:4).

 “But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Abel gave a more excellent sacrifice [the fattest of his firstlings]. Giving made Abel righteous because giving the right kind of gift in faith is a mark of righteousness. How?

 “As it is written, ‘He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.’ Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” ( 2 Cor. 9:9-10).

Your righteousness increases as your gift increases. Your righteousness is lacking a great deal if it has not touched your finances.

In thanking God, you do not just give God an anyhow thing. It has to be a quality seed because quality seed brings forth quality harvest.

In Malachi 1:7-8, 13-14 God warned us concerning bringing shameful things to Him as thanksgiving offering. He said, “You don’t show respect for My table [altar]. You bring blind and diseased animals as gifts to Me. Isn’t that wrong? You bring sick and crippled animals as gifts to Me. Isn’t that wrong? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he will be! No! He would not accept those gifts!....But I will not accept those diseased animals from you. Some people have good, male animals that they could give to Me as gifts. But they don’t give those good animals to Me. They promise to give those good animals to Me. But they secretly exchange those good animals and they give me blind, crippled and diseased animals as gifts. Bad things will happen to those people.”

But Cain’s was not accepted. Why? Because he brought the wrong kind of sacrifice in self-will and unbelief. He brought an anyhow gift to God. He brought a leftover as a gift to God. He brought a gift that even a beggar on the street would not accept.

If you give something that speaks negative of your God, then, your gift is given out of self-will and unbelief. The quality of what you give to God is an evidence of how you regard Him.

Yes, the Bible says, “As you purpose in your heart…” (2 Cor. 9:6-8). However, whatever you decide in your heart must agree with God’s Word. Beloved, is your thanksgiving gift the best you can offer to God in faith like Abel, or in self-will and unbelief like Cain?

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)                                  02.12. 2018