"Always giving thanks to God he Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," (cf. Eph. 5:20).
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus," (cf. 1 Thess. 5:18).
Why? He is good and His mercy endures forever, for two good reasons. We can be secure! We must make the sacrifice of thanksgiving that He is worthy of and is also that which puts us in the right mindset and frame of mind to worship and serve Him. Thanksgiving isn't natural just like worship; we must be oriented, taught, trained, and inspired to do so. It's a way of forgetting about ourselves and focusing on Jesus and be filled with the Spirit. We cannot be self-centered and spiritual simultaneously. Self and thanksgiving don't mix!
We all have something to give thanks for even if we are impoverished or broke, even in the pandemic we can realize our blessings and celebrate our life and that it's worth saving and living for Jesus. When we give thanks it orients to eternity and off our predicament; we must learn to live in light of eternity and not for the here and now. When we are filled with gratitude, we want to spread the cheer and payback to others and society of what God has blessed us with.
We never give thanks in vain because in the measure we do it, God blesses in return. God is no man's debtor and pays back multiple when we give as unto the Lord. Freely we have received from the Lord and freely we are to give! We must first realize that all we own is the Lord's and we are just stewards: We must first offer ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice and render to God what is God's. That's the key, one can never repay the debt of love and grace is that which we don't deserve, cannot repay, and cannot earn even in all eternity we will be debtors to God.
We ought to overflow with thanksgiving! For instance, just think of the blessings of salvation both in this life and the next we have the perks of being the children of God. In our salvation, our past is forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured! We cannot but thank Him for His "unspeakable" or indescribable gift! (Jesus!) As members of God's kingdom, we have many privileges and should rejoice in our status as overcomes! Remember, we owe it all to the Lamb who sits upon the throne and has overcome and invited us to be joint-heirs.
In short, this is God's explicit will: give thanks in all things as unto the Lord, in every circumstance even if we don't know why. That can test our faith! How can we do this? There are infinite ways: multiple instruments of music, multiple songs and hymns to sing, multiple gifts, multiple talents, multiple opportunities, multiple songs, multiple relationships, multiple occupations, multiple hobbies, multiple blessings, multiple passions, and multiple salvation stories or testimonies. We must render thanks for all that salvation involves and who we were before: remembering the rock from which we were hewn and the quarry from which we were dug.
Remember, we are commanded to give thanks and this is for our good as God doesn't have anything to gain; He is worthy and deserves to be praised and worshiped with thanksgiving. When we do so, wonderful peace will fill our hearts for doing God's will. Even in prayer, the right attitude is to do it in thanksgiving and to prepare our hearts with it. Praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He's done, even given us the victory! Our conversation and fellowship should be in thanksgiving and no obligation but willingly and voluntarily. We are to worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything if we want to enjoy the peace of God in our hearts.
In summation, giving thanks entails much more than just telling someone "thank-you" or even doing lip-service to God to that effect, but in bearing fruit in respect to it and being a witness of thanks to others, doing good works showing and proving gratitude as in remitting a debt. Soli Deo Gloria!
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