Give Thanks

“When you sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord…”  Leviticus 22:29

“Thank you.”  The commonly used expression when someone does something for us or gives something to us is short on words but long on meaning.  The phrase acknowledges generosity and conveys a sense of appreciation and not entitlement. Since we are people whose very breath depends upon the grace of God, gratitude should continually flow from our hearts through our lips and our lives.

Thankfulness first shows up in Scripture in the law God gave Moses for the nation of Israel.  Though not commanded as a requirement, a grateful attitude in His people was assumed by the Almighty, and He gave guidelines for a sacrificial “thank you.”  A thank offering was a type of peace offering—a sacrifice brought when all was well between you and God and you simply wanted to express your heart.  Along with meat, you would offer bread, both leavened and unleavened.  After your animal was sacrificed, the prescribed parts burned on the altar, and the designated portions given to the priest, the rest of the meat, along with the tasty leavened bread, was to be eaten in celebration that day and the next by your family and your friends.  None was to be reserved for the third say, for surely the God to whom you were giving thanks would once again provide for your needs.

Why all the ritual?  Why all the rules?  Wouldn’t giving a “thumbs up” to heaven as you walked through your tent suggest the same thing?  Why demand such effort when the offering itself was optional? 

Perhaps God wanted to remind them—and us—that gratitude must be intentional.  We must get up and go to the one to whom we are thankful because gratitude isn’t seen unless it’s shown.  Maybe God desired that thankfulness become a habit of the heart, and He knew that a family trek to the tabernacle would help shift their focus from the gift to the Giver.  And it could be that God wished to use their thankfulness to demonstrate His generosity as He gave back most of what they had brought and instructed them to enjoy it with celebration.

These days we need not bring a lamb or bake some bread, but our daily lives should be a ceaseless celebration of thankfulness to our God and to the good folks around us who share so much with us.   As we start this Thanksgiving season, make sure you make your gratitude intentional.  Make it habitual.  And make it joyful.

Your small “thank you” will make a big impact when offered freely and frequently. 

Give thanks.