A Heart of Thanksgiving

When Adam’s eyes first fluttered to life, there now existed a whole man, fully aware and full of intelligence. His eyes would have beheld the wonders all around him. The earth was teeming with life, and Adam must have had curiosity stirred within him as he explored the wonders of this new creation of which he was a part.

As Adam explored this new creation, he not only explored it, but he also, we are told, did so as he walked with God. The picture this paints for us is one of harmony and beauty, a life of peace and serenity. As Adam rested at the end of the day, his perfect mate and helper, Eve by his side, I can imagine them sitting with God and enjoying their labors with much peace and thankfulness of heart. So the story of blissfulness continued until the tragic day that this life was no longer enough for the happy couple.

Satan the ingrate, who himself was not content with his lot, couldn’t keep his poison to himself. He saw fit to infect Adam and his wife with the prospect that God was holding back from them that which they were due, there is more to be had; they themselves could become as gods! The moment they ate of the forbidden fruit was the day they would never be full again. They would never experience thankfulness in the same way ever again, for only a heart in communion with God and His goodness is a full heart, and only a full heart is a thankful heart.

All of Adam’s progeny now suffer from a heart that can never be full enough. ‘Their throats are open graves’, always receiving in. You and I entered a world in which every single person longs for more than what they have; therefore, they are ingrates. This is the sad state of the world which we have contributed to and which our Lord entered. Paul describes humanity like this, according to the 21st verse of Romans chapter 1:

“Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

The human heart has become a ‘well that cannot hold water.’ (Jeremiah 2:13) Ever drinking and never having their thirst quenched.  (John 4:13) This is a universal problem for all mankind, there is none exempt from this curse – how could we be now that our fellowship with God is broken. We try for years to fill the void within. One would think rich people are among the most thankful of us. No sooner do the rich make their first $100 without thinking about how to turn it into $1000. Even the drunkard – the more he drinks, the more he thirsts. An earthly heart is like a grave which is “never satisfied”.

This thanklessness ruins the soul. When we stop being thankful, it shrinks our soul. When we stop and think of when we fall into the sin of complacency, one of the worst sins we can do, is not the root of it, thanklessness? An ingratitude of the heart. Is it not accusing God of not giving you enough? Even in our horizontal relationships, when we take them for granted, when we stop appreciating them, does not the fire in the heart begin to wane? A life marked by thanklessness is a life marked by a granite heart. A heart that no longer feels the warmth of God’s love for you. You can be sure that as love for God grows cold, so does thanklessness. As thanklessness fades, so does your nearness to God.

One of the marks of the Israelites' spiritual falling away from God after He redeemed them from bondage in Egypt was their murmuring against God. Murmurers are ungrateful; they complain against God, they dishonor God and forget his goodness. There were many murmurers in Jesus’ own day, a sure sign that they missed who Jesus was. We can most assuredly believe that those who believe God exists and claim to follow Christ but do not ‘honor Him as God’ nor live their lives with worshipful gratitude for what Christ has done for them, are believers in name only.

Jesus said in John 4:14, “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” Jesus alone fills the heart with contentment and peace. Jesus, the one who faithfully filled the role of the quintessential human, now fills our hearts. Now we can truly enjoy what we have without it becoming an ever thirsting idol. The created order of appreciation for God is now restored within the heart, and a life of worship now ensues. The life of the saint is now marked by thankfulness.

Famed Puritan Thomas Watson once said, “A contented Christian carries Heaven with him.” But how do we grow in contentment? Consider Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, the place of Paul’s former imprisonment for his faith:

Philippians 4:8-9

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Paul’s way of living was counter-cultural, even to those he was discipling in the church. He is instructing them to model their lives as he did – always meditating on that which is lovely, true, noble, and just. Paul says, ‘Do these, and the God of peace will be with you.’

The Holy Spirit-powered Paul was light-years ahead of modern psychology’s teaching on ‘negative bias.’ Negative bias teaches us that if someone tells you 10 things, 9 of them good and 1 bad, you will remember the bad. The human mind naturally fixates on that which is ignoble, unjust, flawed, and unlovely. Why do news stories consist of nothing but crime and bad reports?

But consider with me that the church is to be a microcosm of Heaven. The local church is to represent what the world would look like if Christ ruled and reigned over every heart on earth. The church is to consist of people who focus on that which is true of each other; that we are blood bought and precious in the eyes of our Lord.

Consider a godly marriage for a moment. Marriage is meant to represent the glory of God by displaying to the world the selfless love and devotion of Christ to His bride. A godly marriage is marked by thankfulness as we focus on that which is true of each other, namely, that we are joined to a soul whom God has tasked us with caring for and nurturing.

This Thanksgiving, remember that it is ‘more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35) A heart that is full of Christ is open to freely give out of the abundance of the heart. The world is marked by thanks-receiving, always expecting to receive, and yet never be satisfied. Consider Christ, who on the eve of his death, took the bread and the cup and gave thanks. Jesus saw the bread and the cup, emblems of his broken body and blood that would soon be spilled, and he gave thanks to his Father.

To my Christian friends, we can imagine a world marked by thankfulness. We can imagine a church body filled with thankful brothers and sisters, always looking at that which is lovely and pure in each other and long-suffering with that which is not. This Thanksgiving, let your heart be soaked with gratitude for what Christ has done for you, and the God of peace Himself will be with you.

Will you join me in living by the Spirit, seeing by faith which is most true of those around us? Meditate and focus on that which is noble, lovely, just, and pure. Let the gospel of the glory of God for broken sinners such as us, saturate your heart this Thanksgiving.

Yours in Christ, Pastor Nate Freeman