Why Give Thanks?

11/23/2006

“How privileged you are to see what you have seen. I tell you, many prophets and kings
have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but they could not.”
Luke 10:23-24 (NLT)

We all love to be comfortable, and that’s why so many won’t even travel. We want to sleep in our own bed at night… And then we can read in Luke 9 that Jesus didn’t even have a home of His own, not even a place to lay His head. And do you know what it says He did? “He said to another person, ‘Come, be my disciple.’” (Luke 9:59 NLT)

What a great offer!? He didn’t have anywhere to live, not much comfort to offer, but He was asking others to go along with Him. The man in this story didn’t seem too excited to follow a “homeless” Jesus. He put a condition on following Him. He said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” That sounds like a reasonable request, doesn’t it? He really had something that needed doing, but Jesus wasn’t accepting of it, He told the man that his duty was to go and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God.

In Luke 10, it begins with, “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit. Further down it says, “Don’t take along any money, or a traveler’s bag, or even an extra pair of sandals.”

He was calling the disciples to go out in faith, and what happened? They came back excited!! “When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, ‘Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!’” Luke 10:17 (NLT) Jesus wasn’t surprised. He told them, “…But don’t rejoice just because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”

We can get distracted when things are too comfortable, or not comfortable enough. We can get distracted when things don’t go our way, and when they do! Life is very distracting from what’s most important--the fact that those who are believers in Jesus Christ are registered as citizens of heaven. That’s what it’s all about, knowing where we belong and Who we belong to. How do we find that comfort? We find it in giving thanks. When we give thanks, we are focused on Who God is. Period. And that sounds easy, but it’s not. Not in the distracting world we live in.

Jesus’ heart was filled with thanksgiving for the wonderful gift that had been given to those who followed Him. The gift of understanding that all of this is great and wonderful, but it really doesn’t matter, because what matters is Who God is. God is God! When we enter into His courts with thanksgiving and praise, each time we come away a slightly changed person. And each time, we come to know God more, to know what is possible when He fills our hearts--instead of the lies of the enemy filling our minds--and we find what true comfort is in this life.

There’s no better place to be than in God’s Throne Room, giving thanks, when this world hurts. God wants us to practice going to Him each day, thanking and praising Him, so that we will come to know Him, and never forget His comfort is there for us.