What is thanksgiving? According to Strongs, the Hebrew word, thanksgiving, is ‘towdah’ and means adoration, offering and praise. ‘Todah’ is derived from the verb, ‘yadah’, which means to give thanks or to praise. The root of ‘yadah’ is ‘hand’. Thus, to thank or praise is to extend one’s hands in thanks to Him. In Jeremiah 33:11 ’todah’ is translated a “sacrifice of praise”.
The Bible overflows with invitations to thanksgiving. I quote three Scriptures from the Apostle Paul: “Always give thanks to God the Father for everything…” – Ephesians 5:20. “Live your lives in Him…overflowing with thankfulness.” – Colossians 2:6-7. “…Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God…” – 1Thes. 5:16-18
I love to tell my family, whenever they want to complain, eat your sandwich! That is…
- rejoice always
- pray continually
- give thanks in all circumstances.
Every expression of thanks elevates us. It raises our gaze from self to God and from all we wish we had, to being grateful for all we’ve been given. Giving thanks also raises our hearts from grumbling to appreciative joy. When we choose gratitude, things return to their right places, like a hub recentred at the middle of a wheel. We remember how small and dependent we are, but we also realise how deeply we are loved and cared for. We feel afresh our Heavenly Father’s generosity and grandeur.
What is the remarkable benefits of gratitude? As with everything else that God calls His people to do, giving thanks brings remarkable benefits as well. After all, God made us and knows what we need to thrive.
An immense array of scientific studies affirms that virtually every part of a person, body, soul and spirit, is made healthier by gratitude.
What do we experience when we choose to give thanks?
- Greater happiness and emotional well-being
- Increased enthusiasm, determination and energy
- Fewer destructive emotions, like resentment, envy and frustration
- More willingness to forgive and less appetite for revenge
- Stronger relations with others, more willingness to help and a happier marriage and family life
- Reduced anxiety, stress, depression and fear
- Lower levels of stress hormones and inflammatory markers as well as a decrease in blood pressure
- Improved sleep quality and duration
- Increased resilience and greater capacity to overcome trauma
Remarkably, the practices that produce outcomes like these are often simple once-a-day or even weekly actions. For example, in one study, just by writing a few sentences once a week about things the participants were thankful for measurably boosted their happiness and reduced aches, pains and even visits to the Doctor.
If medication could do this, it would cost a fortune! Yet this prescription of gratitude, has no side effects and is for free!!
We live in a broken world. Thanksgiving does not deny the world’s hurt or our own. The Apostle Paul knew suffering well. Yet in virtually every letter he wrote, Paul called God’s people to give thanks in all the moments of life. He also practised what he preached. Paul and Silas sang out praise and thanks to God in the dark of the Philippian prison. As they did this, what had bound them, fell away. Gates opened and walls crumbled. Gratitude does that every time – always within us – and sometimes also in the world around us. It frees us from the shackles of self-focus and complaint and lets us rise above our circumstances.
Choosing gratitude includes two simple ingredients, namely seeing and saying. We first notice God’s good gifts, from the blue skies and green grass to a stranger’s smile, the marvel of a human hand to the wonder of grace. Then, we put it into wordsand name the goodness we’ve received by expressing thanks to the Giver in writing, speech, song or by making music from your heart (Eph. 5:19).
Let me encourage and challenge you to choose gratitude. Not only because it will benefit your entire body, soul and spirit, but because your loving Maker calls you to it. Think of new ways to express your gratitude. Start a daily or weekly “gratitude journal” or start each morning’s devotion by giving thanks for five things. Thank others for the good they’ve brought to you.
Lastly, I want to remind you that miracles happen when thanks is given. For example, Jesus multiplied the bread and fish (Matt. 14:13-21, Matt. 15:34-38) and raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-44) after thanking the Father.
I heard a testimony about a lady who had terminal cancer. She sat in the back of the church, listening to a sermon about thanksgiving, and thought that she really had nothing to be grateful for, but decided to follow the pastor’s advice. From then on, she thanked God for everything, from the socks in her drawer to her grumpy old husband. Within a month her entire life changed. Her oncologist also gave her the good news that her cancer had gone into remission.
I want to leave you with Proverbs 17:22: ‘A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, but low spirits sap one’s strength.’
Like Paul, I want to challenge you…EAT THAT 1 THES.5:16-18 SANDWICH!
Angelique Conradie van der Westhuizen