How does God want people to respond to him?

Scripture gives us many answers to that question—worship, fear, obedience, love, even curiosity—but one of the most basic responses is thankfulness.

The Israelites had a “thank offering” as part of their worship rhythms (Leviticus 7:11-15), and the Psalms bubble with gratitude (7:17; 16:9; 63:4; and more). The apostle Paul expresses his thankfulness for several different congregations: “I thank my God for you every time I think of you” (Philippians 1:3). At the Last Supper, Jesus offered thanks for the bread and wine (Matthew 26:26-27), giving his followers a name for their continuing observance of this sacred meal. (The Greek word for giving thanks is eucharisteo.)

Thankfulness is prominent in several summary statements in the New Testament. Those who are growing in their relationship with Christ are asked to “live in union with him…build your lives on him…and be filled with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). Thanksgiving should accompany “everything you do and say” (Colossians 3:17).

A series of mini-verses at the end of one letter reveals “what God wants from you.” And what are those essential behaviors? “Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Cutting to the Core

But one passage suggests that thankfulness is not just one of multiple good qualities that believers should have, but a core impulse of human worship. In Romans 1, where Paul describes the depravity of the Gentiles, he first establishes the idea that God’s nature can be seen in creation, and so humans have no excuse. “They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him” (Romans 1:21).

Is this saying that a lack of gratitude is at the heart of rebellion against the Creator? On the flip side, then, could we say that thankfulness is an essential characteristic of a faith-response to God?

Embedded Grace

So, if thankfulness is that important, what is it?

It’s no accident that the Greek word for thanks embeds the word for grace (charis). We are grateful when we receive blessings we don’t deserve. The act of giving thanks is then a sort of outline of the gospel. God has blessed us; we recognize his grace; we respond with a thank-you. Of course the details of sin, sacrifice and salvation need to populate that outline. Yet the grateful person, long before hearing the gospel, already has a grid for it.

That makes the Thanksgiving holiday in America a unique opportunity. It might be considered a semi-religious holiday, with no specific biblical event to commemorate. But amid all the feasting and football there could be something very important going on. The nation is pausing to be thankful, to acknowledge the blessings we don’t deserve. That is a first step of faith—maybe just a first step, but at least it’s something to build on.

This might be a chance for you to shepherd people from the edges of faith into the center of a biblical encounter with their Creator.

“Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving,” the Psalmist sings (Psalm 100:4). Perhaps, for some, thanksgiving can be the gateway to a new relationship with God.