One of the things that I am thankful for is that I live in a country where a day is set aside for the expressed purpose of giving thanks. Although the holiday may have lost some of its original luster with the gift-buying season encroaching quickly upon it, it is still a pretty remarkable thing that we take time to intentionally and purposefully count our blessings. Some have extended the day of thanksgiving into a month-long celebration, posting on Facebook or Twitter something that they are thankful every day in the month of November. It is a good discipline, this practice of giving thanks. It reminds us that gratitude is appropriate even during tough circumstances. We have been given much, and to whom much has been given, much is expected (Luke 12:48).
However, we would be unwise to think that it is only in the eleventh month of the year that we need to apply this discipline. After all, if we have reasons to give thanks every day in the month of November, we have reasons to give thanks every day of the rest of the year. There are times it may feel like our list of reasons is shrinking dramatically, and perhaps we will have to give thanks for the happier times we once had rather than the circumstances we must currently endure. Regardless, those who follow Christ always have a reason to give thanks – not only has He saved them, but He has promised us a future hope that we can eagerly anticipate and expect. And if we struggle to give thanks even with that assurance, perhaps we need to reconsider upon what we are basing our relationship with Christ. As Thomas a Kempis reminds us:
Those who love Him for His own sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him in all trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if He should never give them consolation, yet they would continue to praise Him and wish always to give Him thanks. What power there is in pure love for Jesus—love that is free from all self-interest and self-love!
In other words, if we are struggling to thank God, perhaps it is because we are not really looking to Him at all, but instead are concentrated on ourselves. If we turn our eyes from our own self-interests, and look instead to the greatness of our King, our praise and adoration, along with our thanksgiving, would quickly flow. We would recognize that our temporal circumstances should not determine our level of gratitude; after all, He is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Because of that, there is always reason to give thanks.