Have you ever given someone a gift and they didn’t thank you? Don’t you feel it’s unappreciated? Imagine how God feels when we don’t thank Him for the gifts He gives us. Since we are created in God’s image and we know we feel when a gift is unappreciated, it’s not unreasonable to suspect that God is far from happy when we don’t acknowledge his gifts and thank Him for them.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer points out that we could be doing ourselves out of great benefits by not thanking God. He says, ‘we prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for the daily gifts.’ I read this Bonhoeffer quote in These High Green Hills by Jan Karon. It goes on to say ‘only he (or she, I might add) who gives thanks for the little things receives the big things in return.’ Does this mean that if we thank God for supplying our daily needs and helping us meet our incoming bills, He will shower us with untold riches. No, I don’t believe it does.
Yes, the Bible does say to him who has more will be given, Matthew 25:29. I don’t believe that necessarily means material possessions and riches, as some people teach. But it needs to be read in context. The passages prior to this parable of the talents talks about the kingdom of God. Therefore I’m inclined to think as the chorus Healthy Wealthy and Wise by Bryson Smith says, that it’s ‘in everything that matters, I’m healthy, wealthy and wise.’ They key is everything that matters, meaning those things that will last for eternity- rather than the fleeting materialistic pleasures.
As we take time to thank God for the blessing He gives, it becomes easier to see His hand in so much of our lives and see that He has a plan for each of us. We start to understand more of Him as we spend time with Him, as we thank Him in praise for answered prayer and as we read His Word and learn more of the mighty creator of our world and his rescue plan of salvation through Jesus.
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