"Our Sacrifices Of Thanksgiving"

It has always seemed to this writer a sad commentary on human nature, that we have to organize a holiday to encourage people to be thankful. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that if we were genuinely grateful for all that God has given us, we wouldn’t need to mark it on the calendar? For example, “This is the Fourth Thursday in November, be sure to thank God today.” Unfortunately, we are forgetful creatures.

The Bible teaches us that true gratitude has a price: “Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing” (Psalm 107:22). At first glance, that command may seem peculiar to us. “Sacrifices of thanksgiving? I thought we were thankful because we don’t have to sacrifice. But the truth is that when we are thankful as we should be, we will be moved to sacrifice.

In the first century of the church, the Christians in Macedonia were very poor. Yet, when they heard about the desperate material needs of suffering saints in and around Jerusalem, the Macedonian Christians enthusiastically pleaded with Paul to take their offering to Judea for the benefit of their brethren in Christ. Paul was amazed that people so poor themselves would be eager to give from their meager substance to help others. But he said of the Macedonians, “The abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality” (2 Corinthians 8:2). Though they had little, these godly people were so thankful for even that small amount that they were anxious to give sacrificially. Paul instructed the wealthy Corinthian church to follow the Macedonians’ example, telling them that gift-giving demonstrates gratitude: “For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12).

Such sacrifice is acceptable only when offered willingly. Moses told the Israelites in Leviticus 22:29, “When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will.” A gift given out of compulsion is not truly a gift. Our thankfulness, rather than some rule or law, should motivate us to sacrifice ourselves and our resources to God. Paul tells us, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

True thanksgiving promotes liberality in every facet of our lives. If we are thankful for our bodies, we use our good health to labor for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If we are thankful for our material goods, we apply them to Christ’s service, as good stewards (1 Peter 4:9-11). If we are thankful for our families, we devote ourselves to encouraging them in the ways of righteousness (Ephesians 6:4). If we are thankful for the gospel of God’s grace and salvation, we sacrifice what is necessary for others to hear it and live (1 Corinthians 9:6-9).

A chastened prophet named Jonah prayed to God, “I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). We too must realize daily how great our debt to the Lord is. If we really are thankful for all that He has done for and given to us, our gratitude should be evident in the sacrifice of our lives. Our attitude of thanksgiving should be like that of the Psalmist when he said, “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:3-5).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets