A Holy Charge (20)

 

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18).

 

Rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all things, in all situations, is a three-cord way of life in Christ. This speaks of communion with our Lord Jesus, our holy Father, and the Holy Spirit. These are manifestations of our Nature in Jesus Christ, expressions of our sonship, demonstrations of our identity as the Father’s Family, the Son’s Bride and His Body, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

 

There are two other passages, in the context of thanksgiving, that may help us capture the essence of our life of communion and worship in Christ, passages that may help us see that unbroken intimacy with God is our calling and our inheritance in Jesus Christ.

 

“Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:18 – 20).

 

“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 richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:15 – 17).

 

Being drunk leads to extreme behavior, whether boisterous, quiet, extroverted, or introverted. Being “under the influence” of drink can lead to sorrow and death (many of us have known people killed or maimed by a drunk driver), it can lead to violence and other unspeakable behavior and damaging results.

 

Shall we live “under the influence” of drink or of the Holy Spirit? Shall we live under the influence of the world, the flesh, and the devil or of the Holy Spirit? Shall we be filled with anything other than the Holy Spirit?

 

I wonder if Paul had the Day of Pentecost in mind when he wrote to the Ephesians about not being drunk with wine but rather filled with the Holy Spirit?

 

“Others were mocking and saying, ‘They are full of new wine’” (Acts 2:13). Some observers thought the filling of the Holy Spirit was simply the work of alcohol in the believers, others realized that it was the work of God. The filling of the Holy Spirit can lead to extreme behavior in the eyes of the world (and the professing church). 

Praising God, singing to one another, giving thanks in all situations, truly following Jesus Christ, self-denial, laying down our lives for others, loving our enemies, seeking that City whose Builder and Maker is God, spending time in prayer, living a life of prayer, not loving the things of this world, sharing Jesus…this is all extreme behavior in the eyes of the world and…sadly…in the eyes of much of the professing church.

 

Giving thanks in all things simply doesn’t make sense…unless we are worshippers of the True and Living God, assured that our lives are in His loving hands, assured of our eternal future, knowing that the things that are seen are temporal, but that the things that are unseen (but seen in the eye of the Spirit) are eternal.

 

Our hearts are to be an altar of continuous worship, where the fire of God burns and praise and thanksgiving ascend day and night.

 

In Colossians 3:15 – 17, note the thread of thanksgiving in each verse. Thanksgiving is to be present in our life in the Body of Christ (v. 15), thanksgiving is to permeate our worship and our giving and receiving with one another (v. 16), and thanksgiving is to be an element of all that we do as we do it in the name of Jesus.

 

And what is thankfulness but being filled and overflowing with thanksgiving? Thank-full-ness.

 

Thanksgiving is a matter of the will, it is a decision; yes, of course it can be joyful, but it begins in the will and is sustained in the will – our feelings will mislead us, our feelings cannot sustain thanksgiving because when we face hard times or have “down” times, the last thing we may feel like doing is giving thanks to God.

 

Yet, as we practice thanksgiving, making it a daily decision, an hour-by-hour decision, a circumstance-by-circumstance decision, as we exercise our will (by the enabling grace of God) and choose to be thankful to God, offering thanksgiving sacrificially when necessary – thanksgiving becomes a habit of the heart and mind and soul – it is woven into our nature.

 

The threefold cord of rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all things, is a cord not easily broken – it is a life not easily unraveled.

What does thanksgiving look like in my life today?

In our congregations?

What does it look like in your life today?