Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100 ESV)
The average person in America, if asked how things are going, normally replies, “Good!”; work is okay, bills are paid, the family is healthy, the home is comfortable, the marriage is fine. Although these are all good things, what would be even better is having an enriched life; what Jesus called an abundant life.
In the eyes of the nations, America is rich in resources and provision, yet many citizens, both the comfortable and destitute, need enrichment, a life rich with satisfaction and purpose. Is an enriched life possible? Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives the answer: “It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.”
No one can honestly boast, “I accomplished everything on my own.” Everyone has been influenced and shaped by others. When I reflect on my early days of ministry, I realize how many wonderful people influenced my outlook and efforts. Glen Cole showed me the zeal of the gospel. Paul Murray showed me the love of the gospel. Albert Knudson showed me the music of the gospel. Dolt Allen showed me the Spirit of the gospel. Ron Masters showed me the declaring of the gospel. And, Lowell Lundstrom showed me the passion of the gospel. Many others are still influencing my life for the better and I am extremely thankful.
Those following Jesus owe much to other believers and even more to the Lord. God sent His only begotten Son to provide eternal life and, by abiding in Christ, He is helping believers victoriously manage the day-in and day-out events of living.
When you possess a thankful heart, He enriches your existence. What are some ways life is enriched?
Enriched in happiness
“He who forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness.” (C. Neil Strait)
Thanksgiving helps a person to be happy. It frees the heart from worries. Expressing thanks conditions a soul for joy. Unhappiness is an indicator of someone losing an attitude of gratitude.
Scripture portrays the Lord as richly providing everything for your enjoyment. Yet only the thankful notice the “all things to enjoy” that God so richly supplies. (1 Timothy 6:17) When residing in the sphere of gloom and doom, people easily lose sight of the victories occurring daily. They become paranoid over the next crisis, which inevitably crosses everyone’s pathway.
The happiest people are those that quickly thank God for every circumstance. My wife and I knew a wonderful married couple who resided in the north part of Chicago. They did not have much money, they could only afford to rent a modest apartment, they drove an inexpensive car, and a holiday outside of the immediate area was unheard-of. They lived very simply. We joined them for dinner one evening and to every question, the husband responded with thanksgiving to God. Although not possessing many possessions there was much laughter and unending smiles on their faces. Their lives were enriched with thanksgiving. They convinced us that happiness comes by thankfulness.
Enriched by humility
David, the psalms’ composer, sang, “My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.” (Psalm 34:2 ESV)
The higher someone exalts God, the more accurately they see themselves. The more clearly a person sees the need for total dependence upon the Lord, the more enriched they become by His goodness and grace.
Only the humble recognize God as the source of all blessings. Seeing Him as the fount of every good thing develops gladness. When you comprehend that you are not the one providing, you end up glad the blessings are there for your pleasure.
Pride and arrogance rob people of a thankful heart and deprives them of an enriched life. Currently, pride and arrogance are emptying the streets of America of deep-seated joy. The nation would be better off boasting in the Lord and humbling herself.
Enriched in holiness
Paul wrote the young man Timothy about the end times being filled with people that are ungrateful and unholy. (2 Timothy 3:2) These two “un-” go together.
Being unholy leads to ungratefulness. When charting out the moral decline of people, Paul wrote of them failing to give thanks to Him. (Romans 1:21). A vain, self-willed, self-sufficient individual ignores the God to whom they are indebted.
Paul also reveals ungratefulness deteriorates to unholy. Without thankfulness, people go down a road that eventually causes debased forms of immorality. “For 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… Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” (Romans 1:21, 24 ESV)
Thanksgiving helps reverse the moral decline of the human condition. Paul instructs believers: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry... But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth... Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:5, 8, 12-13 ESV) Three times believers are admonished to take deliberate action in opposition to unseemly behavior.
He then reveals the pathway to enrichment: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15-17 ESV) Three times believers are admonished to live in the arena of gratefulness.
Enriched in heaven
Heaven is populated with thankful people. “A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne… They fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’” (Revelation 7:9, 11-12 ESV) The anticipation of a heavenly home is richer to those who, in this lifetime, develop the habit of continually giving thanks.
Take on an eternal view. By doing so, the number of things causing thanksgiving become virtually endless: Thankful for being set free from rebellion and pride; thankful for the eternal inheritance prepared for you; and thankful for the Savior who guides you to your glory-filled destination.
Have you ever lost a friend or loved one through death? A heavenly outlook creates a sense of thanksgiving amid the grief of parting. The brief separation is simply a sign of a follower of Jesus residing in heaven, where all suffering ceases.
Thanksgiving
Become enriched through thanksgiving. Your life may be going well, but it can be made better in thankfulness.
A resounding thought permeates the Psalms; namely, giving thanks to the Lord for his enduring goodness, as well as praising Him continually. (Psalms 34:1; 107:1) The Lord rightfully deserves these two expressions of adoration. Cheating Him of thanksgiving and praise only cheats the person that fails to express them.
It was only after Jonah raised his voice in thanksgiving that he was set free from his predicament. (Jonah 2:9) It was only when Paul and Silas punctuated their suffering with praise in a Philippian jail that the doors of freedom flew open. (Acts 15:25-26) You hold the key to having an enriched life, to becoming delivered and set free from your circumstances.
Have an enriched day of thanksgiving this coming Thursday by entering the Lord’s gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.
Blessings!
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