How often do you give thanks to God? Are you a thankful person by nature? Or do you have to consciously think about giving thanks? Are you working on being a more thankful person? Do you know God is pleased when we give Him thanks?
Some of us say “Thank you” out of habit. Some of us only rarely say “Thank you.” Saying thank you can be a rote behavior, something we rarely think of, or a heartfelt thanks given to someone for doing something we truly appreciate.
The question we might want to wrestle with is, which of these do we normally give to someone? Are we genuine? Does our genuineness only last for the moment? We may forget all about what someone did for us ten minutes later. Okay, maybe a day later. Either way, if we forget, it likely wasn’t very genuine.
When we give thanks to God, He knows instantly if it is genuine or not. He knows if we are merely mouthing words we were taught or have full appreciation for what He has done for us. He knows our heart of hearts. He knows our motives. He knows our thoughts. He knows when we say the words while being distracted by some other random thought.
Jesus truly gave thanks to God the Father for all He did. He was genuine in His thanks. Perhaps that is just one small reason why He was able to feed five thousand men, plus their wives and children, with just two fish and five loaves of bread and have twelve baskets of food left over. His genuine thanks to God multiplied what was available through blessings from God above.
God has the ability to bless us through multiplication. He can and does bless those who are truly thankful—thankful from the depths of their heart. He knows our needs. He knows our wants. He blesses us in those as He sees fit. However, I have seen Him bless those who are most thankful in amazing, unthought of ways.
I pray we all give thanks to God. I pray we thank Him for all He has blessed us with. I pray each one of us will see every little thing we have is a gift from God. Give thanks to God. Thank God for your blessings. See all the blessings God has bestowed on you.
Matthew 14:19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
Marty Pressey 