You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 2Corinthians 9:11
In todays world being thankful is not unknown, nor is thankfulness despised or considered unnecessary. We have thankfulness expressed on a national scale like the recent ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day later on in the year. Individuals also express thankfulness for things like recovery from illness, escape from injury, for family, for friends, spouses etc. Being thankful is like a healthy heartbeat in mankind that expresses itself on acts of benevolence. But what I find strange is that the thankfulness of the world - at national or individual levels, is thankfulness so often not directed toward anyone! Thankfulness to who? At best it is mere man! Thankfulness to God the prime mover of everything is off their radar!
What about us as believers? Are we at all times directing our thanks to God for all things - good and bad? C.S Lewis said - We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country. This is how it should be. But as the culture rubs off on us we can become like it. John Hannah sums this up in his book ‘To God be the Glory’ where he says, Preoccupied with ourselves, we have lost the grace of being thankful. It is sad to live in a world where there is no one to thank because we have ourselves become the cause and source of all good things.