Let's open our Bibles together, please, to Colossians
3, verse 15, where we find today the verse that
we will focus on, and the theme of Thanksgiving.
Right at the end of Colossians 3, 15, the Apostle
says, and be thankful. Be thankful. One of the
characteristics of those godless days at the
end of the age writes the Apostle Paul is That
they will be characterized by lack of gratitude
That being the case we must surely be living
in those days Thankfulness is an evidence of
grace in the life of a person Thankfulness is
evidence that a person rightly understand his
creaturehood, that he is dependent upon God.
Ingratitude is evidence of self -centeredness,
one's lack of realization that he's a creature
who is dependent upon one who is greater than
he. Merrill Unger writes, regarding Thanksgiving
that it is the gratitude for all the benefits
of divine providence, especially for the general
and personal gifts of redemption. Daniel Rosetti
has said that the worst moment in an atheist's
life is when he is thankful but has no one to
thank. We are God's creatures. We are the sheep
of His pasture. We are the people that He has
made. And as such, it is right for us to enter
into His gates with thanksgiving. And here we
see the Apostle commanding that we who know Jesus
Christ are to be thankful. Now in a sense, that's
like telling someone, be happy. Be happy. It
is possible for us to follow that command and
to act happy, but when we say to someone, be
happy, we're asking them to do something inside,
in their heart. And I want you to notice the
apostle doesn't merely say, act thankful. Rather
he says, be thankful. It is a matter of the heart.
Now, Thanksgiving is a duty before it's a feeling.
It's a duty before it's a feeling. But how do
we get that feeling of gratitude in the heart?
The question is, how do we cultivate a grateful
heart? Above anyone else, we as believers should
see who the source of all things is. And yet,
we too, as did these Colossians, struggle with
being thankful people. Now we all have bad days,
and we think, well, why should I be thankful
for a day like this? But Charles Lowry tells
about a certain Mr. Jones who had a really bad
day. His wife, whose name was Mrs. Jones, by
the way, decided to get rid of some bad hairspray
that she had, and so she thought a good way to
do that would be to spray it all out in the commode,
and she did that. Shortly afterwards, her husband
came home from work. And as his custom was, he
immediately went to the reading room, so to speak,
to relax there. And as soon as he was comfortably
seated, he lit a cigarette and tossed the mat
between his legs into the commode. Well, you
might be able to envision what happened. The
hairspray exploded and blew Mr. Jones heavenward.
He hit his head on the shower bar and his assent,
and then collapsed into the bathtub. The ambulance
folks came to pick him up. They put him on the
gurney, taking him down the steps. Mrs. Jones
explained what had happened, and they got so
tickled they dropped him. And as a result of
that, broke both of his arms. Now you think you've
had a bad day. Consider Mr. Jones, will you?
Those who have been given as much as you and
I have a lot to be thankful for. George Herbert
said in prayer, God thou who has given so much
to me, give me one thing more, a grateful heart.
But then again, how do you cultivate that kind
of a heart? I want to share with you this morning
five secrets to doing that. by secrets to gaining
and cultivating a heart of gratitude. So that
we're not merely acting thankful, but we are
being thankful. The first thing that we must
do is to reckon honestly with ingratitude. We
cannot put our sin behind us until first we face
it. Most of us Do not perceive what a blasphemy
in gratitude really is. Like some other heart
conditions, it's one of the acceptable transgressions.
But in fact, it is a heinous sin in the sight
of God. Because it is an attitude of the heart
and not an act of the body, we tend to excuse
it. But you see, God sees the heart. Since we
are commanded by God to be thankful, we know
that that is pleasing to Him. Furthermore, we
know that it's appropriate for any creature of
God to be thankful to the Creator. James 4 .17
tells us, anyone who knows the good he ought
to do and doesn't do it, sins. We know we ought
to be thankful. We don't do it. It's sin. Sin
is a terrible indifference of the heart. Sin
is an offense to a holy God who is the provider
of everything. Once we have understood that ingratitude
is truly a sin against God, how do we rightly
reckon with it? Well, the answer is, first of
all, we must confess it to God. Confess it honestly.
Confess it openly. Confess it transparently.
And say, God, I am ungrateful. God, I do not
have a heart that sings to you as it ought to
thank you. And when we have openly confessed
it, then to thoroughly repent of it in attitude.
I don't think that we will be very successful
in cultivating. a heart of gratitude until we
first see how ugly ingratitude is in the eyes
of God. The first thing we have to do, the first
secret to cultivating a thankful heart is to
reckon honestly with the ingratitude that is
in our lives, and none of us is free from this.
All of us, to some degree, are infected by ingratitude
because of the culture that we live in. The world
is this way, and it's increasingly becoming ungrateful.
Therefore, we who are God's people must repent
of this terrible sin and deal with it honestly
before Him. Secondly, we need to recognize humbly
our undeservedness. Ingratitude basically says,
I deserve what I get. I deserve what I have.
But the fact is that there is no merit in any
of us to lay claim to God's bounty. There is
no entitlement for us for what belongs to God.
We are today facing a great crisis in our culture
because we have developed a a mentality where
people think that support from the government
is something they deserve. And many of us would
decry that. We say, no, it's not that at all.
People should be grateful that the government
is willing to support them. And thankfully, the
government can support people who really are
in need. But it's that attitude, well, I deserve
this. That is a terrible cultural sin. But we
have to be careful. We don't develop the same
attitude toward God. I deserve the things that
God gives to me. The air, the water, the sunlight.
Even the pulse of our heart are all gifts from
God. None of us can demand these things from
God. We can't imagine that we have a claim upon
them. The Apostle Paul says in Acts Chapter 17,
God is not served by human hands as if He needed
anything, because He Himself gives all men life
and breath and everything else. God gives us
life and breath and everything. We need to humbly
recognize our undeservingness. He goes on to
say, for in Him we live and move. and have our
being. That is, apart from God, we have no being.
We have no being. No matter how high a man rises
in life, truly he must always look up to give
thanks. We do not deserve the blessings of God,
and yet God has graciously made commitments to
us based upon His providence. His grace in Christ
Jesus. And God will keep those promises. Not
because we deserve it, but because that keeping
of His promises is an expression of His person.
That's who He is. If we're going to develop a
grateful heart, we have to realize our undeservingness
of all that God puts into our hands. If somehow
we think we deserve what God gives us, we will
not learn to be grateful. That brings me to the
third secret to developing a thankful heart so
that we can obey this command, be thankful, and
that is to recover happily your contentment.
Someone has said all the world lives in one of
two tents, either content or discontent. Nothing
makes life more miserable than living in discontent.
Contentment, on the other hand, is the soil in
which thanksgiving thrives, and it produces within
the heart joy as a fruit. But contentment is
not natural for the human being. Contentment
has to be studied. It has to be learned. The
Apostle Paul tells us this in Philippians chapter
4, I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances. I know what it is to be in need,
and I know what it is to have plenty. I have
learned the secret of being content in any and
every situation, whether well fed or hungry,
whether living in plenty or once. I can do everything
through Him who gives me strength. Interesting,
isn't it, the context of that verse that a lot
of us claim? Paul says, I have learned, I have
been through the school to learn contentment.
You and I need to recover happily our contentment.
The apostle says to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter
6, but godliness with contentment. is great gain.
We brought nothing into the world. We can take
nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with that. In Hebrews chapter
13 verse 5 it says, keep your lives free from
the love of money and be content with what you
have. Because God has said, never will I leave
you. Never. will I forsake you. You see, contentment
is not found in things. Contentment is found
in trust. In trusting God to know my needs and
to provide them in a way and at a time that He
appoints. That's what contentment's about. Trusting
God that He knows my needs and that He will provide
them. in a way and at a time that he appoints.
The one who lives content with little possesses
everything. You think about that. The one who
is content with little possesses everything.
It is difficult, frankly, to be content in a
materialistic culture like you and I live in.
Every day, whether we're driving down the road
or watching television or reading a newspaper,
we are bombarded with the idea you need this.
The advertising industry is built upon that premise
that we need what they are promoting to us. Billions
and billions of dollars are spent to convince
you and me that we need something more than what
we have. That our society comes along with credit
cards and offers immediate gratification. So
that if we don't have the money to buy this thing
that we're told we need, we can put it on credit.
Immediate gratification is one of the sins of
our culture. Happiness is not found in having
the things that you want, but in wanting the
things that you have. And so in cultivating a
thankful heart, come to this place too, for you
will recover happily your contentment with what
God has given you. The fourth secret to cultivating
a grateful heart is found in these words, respond
heartily to others' needs. There's an African
proverb that says, he who has carried on another's
back does not appreciate how far the town is.
He who has carried on another's back does not
appreciate how far the town is. Let's not be
those who expect to be carried on somebody else's
back. But let's be the kind who will carry, if
necessary, someone else and respond to their
needs. The covetous miserly heart is itself ungrateful.
It must learn to share, to impart its blessings
to others, and to God's cause in the world. In
Luke 638, Jesus said this, Give and it will be
given to you. A good measure pressed down, taken
together, and running over will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will
be measured to you. Those are interesting words,
aren't they, by our Lord? When we bring our offerings
to the Lord and we put them in the plate? Jesus
says, the measure that you use in writing that
text is the measure that God will use in measuring
to you. Therefore, make it a good measure, a
good measure. I don't know about you, but I like
to go to the bins at the store where things are
sold in bulk. I don't know if you get a better
deal there or not, but you feel like you do.
You feel like you do. And so you get the container,
whatever size it may be, and you reach down in
there. What kind of a container do you bring
out of there? Now, one of the things that I buy
is brand. Now, I'm not going to tell you why.
It's a little personal. But I buy brand every
now and then in the store. It's a very expensive
proposition. You get a whole bag up for about
a quarter. But when I dig that container down
in there, and I'm going to buy brand. I don't
just get a little bit. I keep it in there. And
that's what Jesus is saying here. When you're
going to give, get a big measure out and take
it around and press it down and make sure you've
got as much in there as you possibly can. Because
that is exactly how God is going to measure to
you. First Timothy chapter 6, verses 17 to 19
say this. Command those who are rich in this
present world not to be arrogant nor to put their
hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to
put their hope in God who richly provides us
with everything for our enjoyment. God richly
provides everything for our enjoyment, he says.
Put your hope in God, not in the things that
he provides. He goes on to say, command them
to do good. to be rich in good deeds and to be
generous and willing to share. In this way, they
will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm
foundation for the coming age, so that they may
take hold of the life that is truly life." You
know what he's saying there? He says, if you
and I are really going to take hold of life,
the true life, of eternal life, if we're going
to get a hold of that and enjoy it in this world,
then we need to be the kind of people who give
generously. We need to lay up treasures in heaven,
not upon the earth. If you and I are going to
cultivate a grateful heart, not as at thankful,
but if we're going to cultivate a grateful heart,
that means responding heartily to others' needs.
And then there's a fifth and final secret I want
to talk about. In cultivating a grateful heart,
remember, hopefully, its source. You see, we're
not left alone to work on this project of cultivating
a grateful heart. The Spirit of God is within
us, and it is He who will change us and cultivate
our hearts to be like Jesus. He will empower
us to be truly thankful. In Ephesians 518 it
says, do not get drunk on wine, which leads to
debauchery, but instead be filled with the Spirit.
That is, be dominated by, be empowered by the
Spirit. And then a little bit later he says,
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus. Do you see the
connection? Do you see the linkage there? to
being filled with the Holy Spirit, and because
of that spiritual life flooding through us, our
hearts are keen to being thankful. Remember,
hopefully, the source. Cultivating a grateful
heart doesn't depend upon, in the final analysis,
how hard you work at it. It is how much the Spirit
of God is allowed to do in your heart, because
it is keen. to make their hearts thankful. I
want to encourage you to employ these secrets
of cultivating a grateful heart. If you do, the
blessing will be upon you. John Henry Jowett,
who was a preacher of another generation, said
this regarding gratitude. He said, gratitude
is a vaccine, an antitoxin. and an antiseptic.
Three interesting analogies. Because I want to
say this is a most searching and true diagnosis.
He says gratitude can be a vaccine that can prevent
the invasion of a disgruntled attitude. As antitoxins
prevent the disastrous effects of certain poisons
and diseases, Thanksgiving destroys the poison
of false finding and grumbling. Andy says, when
trouble has smitten us, a spirit of Thanksgiving
is a soothing and perceptive. Do you know that
a grateful heart may do more for your health
than a doctor's prescription? Do you know that
cultivating A grateful heart may be better than
going to Target and filling a prescription for
whatever you're now getting. It may be. You see,
in the final analysis, a cultivated heart of
gratitude shows its fruit. We don't have to act
thankful if we are thankful, because that cultivated
heart of gratitude will show its fruit. Let me
suggest to you some of the fruits of gratitude
that might be evident in your life this week.
As you're asking God to cultivate your heart
with gratitude and thanksgiving, consider these
things as some of the fruits that might be there.
As you're gathered around your table on Thanksgiving
Day, have each person there, assuming it's your
family, for example. Have each member of the
family tell one thing about each of the others
at the table for which he's thankful? We did
this one year with our kids when they were a
little bit smaller and when they weren't at the
age yet when they saw many things that they could
name. They'd rather put them on the spot and
have to think of one thing that they were thankful
for with their siblings and wish there was a
great deal of rivalry. Do you know what? Each
one of them did it, and it did something at that
Thanksgiving table that day. Or you may want
to think about making a list of three people,
let's say, and writing notes to them to thank
them for something they've done for you, or for
what they've meant in your life. Or another possibility
is, if you've got an especially difficult person
in your life, Send a card to that person expressing
thanks for something about them. Now, you may
have to think a while. You may have to dig. You
may have to go back for years. I don't know.
But if you've got a difficult person, you know
that will change that relationship. That will
change that relationship. Find something. to
be thankful for in them. And then certainly to
God, let me suggest these things are some of
the fruits that might be there. Consider in prayer
the things that you take for granted. Now we
all, when we pray, think about those things that
happen to us or that are recent. But think about
the things you take for granted. Or thank God,
on the other hand, for things that you may well
have avoided that didn't happen because of His
grace. Or try this. In your meditation this week,
out of your grateful heart, sing, yes, I don't
care who you are, even if you're Dave Platterbuck,
sing. singing a song of praise to God. Now, don't
get out Psalm 119, you'll wear out before you
get there, to the end of it. Psalm 100, you know,
pick out one of the other Psalms, but sing, it
doesn't make any difference if you know the tune
or don't know it. Let the Spirit just put the
notes in your mind and sing out of your heart
a song to God. Or give a thoughtful gift. to
some aspect of God's work. Cultivating a grateful
heart is a wonderful thing to do. It is absolutely
life -changing. The story is told about some
travelers on the Oregon Trail many years ago.
A party of pioneers traveling in their covered
wagon who suffered greatly because of a lack
of water and food for their animals. Some of
their their wagons had broken down along the
way, causing delays in the desperately heat of
the summer. Along with all of these conditions,
there was a sense of fretfulness and impatience
that had overtaken them. All of their optimism
about the trip to Oregon was gone. Their fear
was destroyed. So one night they decided to call
a meeting, and at that meeting, They were going
to air all their complaints. They gathered around
the campfire in their circled wagon, or circle
of the wagon. They gathered around the campfire.
But before they began to air the complaints,
one of them rose up and said this. Before we
do anything else, I think we should first thank
God that we have come this far with no loss of
life, with no serious trouble from the Indians.
and that we have enough strength left to finish
our journey. And so someone prayed and thanked
God for those things. You know what happened?
After finished praying, there was just silence.
There was just silence. After they realized the
blessings of God, the grumbling spirit that was
there turned into a spirit of contentment. All
the blessings that come to our lives, when we
do this, develop a heart of gratitude. Let's
pray. For down inside your heart and mine, God
knows that there is ingratitude. And we need
to allow the spotlight of conviction to rest
there, and honestly take a look at it. Begin
by acknowledging to God what's there. Then we
need to apply the rest of these secrets so that
we can cultivate a heart that is pleasing to
God and be thankful. Would you tell the Lord
right now to be with you in that process of cultivation?
Let Him plow it up. Let Him plow up your heart
so that you can cultivate a heart of gratitude,
producing contentment and joy, being a blessing
to others. Lord Jesus, do this in our lives.
Deliver us from being like the world around us,
filled with grumbling and complaints. And change
our hearts, cultivate our hearts, ourselves working
with you in that process, so that we will be
a grateful people. for truly we have much to
be thankful for. May we give thanks with a grateful
heart, remembering what you have done and what
your promises are. Amen. God bless you.