Giving thanks to the Lord is a Biblical commandment, but so often we flounder, wondering how to do this and why this is mentioned so frequently. Some have even wondered if it is not rather egotistical of God to tell us to do this so often, rather like an insecure woman asking her beloved for frequent reassurances of his devotion.

Thanksgiving is necessary not to boost God’s ego, but to give us clarity in perspectives. By focussing on who God is and on what He has done, we develop our ‘long’ vision, our ability to see beyond our noses, so to speak! We learn to stand on the rock rather than sink into shifting sands (see Ps 40:1-2). We learn to engage with the ultimate reality instead of basing our lives on moving fantasies. We learn a ‘long obedience in the same direction’, to quote Nietzsche, and thus we have the capacity to become stable, mature people.

Giving thanks puts God in the centre of our lives and our universe. Our ego is displaced and we recognise who God is and whose we are. Giving thanks shapes and moulds our character, making us people who are unselfish, kind and positive – and generally nicer to get along with, because God’s character is shaping ours!

Life is like a journey made up of different steps.

One of the keys or steps to living wisely is to live with thankfulness and gratitude as our ‘default setting.’ This requires training and modification of our thought patterns. We are urged to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Rom 12:2)

The Bible acts as a rudder in how to think, steering us in the right direction. Many of the Psalms guide us in thanksgiving, providing solid reasons for thankfulness which can help us not only when we are happy, but when we face difficult situations. Paul tells us to ‘give thanks in all circumstances’ (1 Thess 5:18) and to ‘give thanks for everything’ (Eph 5:20). The Psalms of thanksgiving provide a firm foundation for thankfulness by focussing our attention on the character of God. Even when we face trials, suffering, temptation and heartache, God’s unchangeable nature gives us reasons for gratitude and hope.

Many psalms focus on specific attributes of God. We are looking at just twelve of them, asking God to transform our thinking so that we focus on these things as reasons for thankfulness, no matter what our external circumstances or internal feelings may say.

In our desire to thank Dave for his service as treasurer, we omitted to celebrate his birthday which took place while he was on holiday… The birthday box still awaits…

We did celebrate a birthday last night, though!

Yesterday we thanked Dave for 12 faithful years as the church treasurer and administrator and prayed for him. His integrity, generosity, faithfulness and good humour have helped the church enormously over the years. His ‘stint’ as treasurer saw us becoming a charity and moving from Beever Street to Market Street… buying a building that cost £185,000 when we only had just over £7,500 in the bank! God’s faithfulness to us in providing the money for this through Coalfields’ Regeneration Trust and others can be read here, but Dave’s willingness to step out in faith played a huge part in this. His vision of a big God helped us all to have faith that God would lead us into great things, and it is testimony to God’s amazing grace that we paid off all we owed on the building before the sale of the Beever Street premises went through.

Dave’s abiding philosophy as treasurer is from 1 Chron 29:14: ‘But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.’ He has always been willing to give to missions and to improving the building and only wants God to have the very best! He has worked unstintingly behind the scenes in all kinds of practical ways, always with a willing spirit and a generous heart, and we are so grateful for all he has done.

As a token of our appreciation, we gave Dave a gift… knowing he’ll have more time on his hands and his fondness for clocks, we bought a singing clock for him!

We also prayed for Herlen, who has taken over the role of treasurer. We are blessed to have so many people in our church who are willing to take on responsibilities and use their giftings to help the church. Thank you, Herlen!

Obedience is saying ‘yes’ to God and doing what He asks us to do. It will always be a response to God’s word to us as people.

Disobedience can be blatant at times (think of Jonah, running in the opposite direction to God’s commands!), but it can also be mixed with half-hearted obedience (think of Saul who protested to Samuel that he had obeyed God, even though Samuel could hear the bleating of sheep which told him Saul had not done all that had been asked of him.) Samuel reminded Saul that ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’ (1 Sam 15:20) – half-hearted obedience is an insult to God who did not spare His only Son but gave Him freely for our sins.

Jonah is an example of how grudging our obedience can be at times. Even when Jonah finally obeyed God, he was not pleased that the Ninevites repented and were spared God’s judgment. (Jonah 4:1-2) Jonah knew God’s merciful, loving character, but still felt that Nineveh should have suffered judgment. He was happy to receive God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and protection from himself, but was reluctant to see that extended to others. We can be encouraged by the fact God uses complex, ungrateful, rebellious, disobedient people like Jonah! – that means there’s hope for us too! At the same time, we need to learn from Jonah’s example and understand that if we have received freely, we must also freely give. (Matt 10:8)

Obeying God is costly, but He is our rightful owner, the creator of heaven and earth and the One who has paid for us through the blood of Christ (Ps 47:2, 1 Chron 29:11, Gen 15:2, 8; Deut 9:26, Judges 6:22, Ps 68:20, 1 Cor 6:19-20). Jesus Himself learned obedience through what He suffered (Heb 5:8) and modelled costly obedience for us as He submitted His will to the Father’s in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). We must learn to do the same if we are to enter into the blessings that God gives to all who obey.

In our alphabet series ‘The A-Z of Christian Faith‘, we looked at the subject of obedience. Obedience is never a popular topic, for ever since Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, people rebel against being told what to do. Disciplining children is an important part of parenting (see Heb 12:11) and God is our heavenly Father who seeks our ultimate good which can only come about if we follow His rules. Obedience has to be more than to the letter of the law, however; our love for God is proved through our obedience.

Jesus placed great emphasis on obedience (see Matt 7:21-23) and told His disciples that the work they had to do was to believe in Him (Jn 6:28-29). Obedience has to be practical (1 Jn 3:18, James 2:15-18) and must affect every area of our lives. God has given us free will and does not rule as a dictator, wanting us to choose obedience freely (see Deut 30:15-16, 19-20; Joshua 24:15). Our response to God will always be determined by our view of God; if we see Him as restrictive and cruel, we will struggle to obey, whereas when we understand that we are in a relationship based on love and trust, we find His commands are not burdensome (1 Jn 5:3) and want to obey (see Rom 6:1-2).

Obedience can lead to legalism if it is not based on a relationship with God. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their legalistic attitudes (see Matt 23:23-24) and reminded them that it’s not just a question of following rules, but of understanding God’s heart. All the commandments were summarised into two: loving God and our neighbours as ourselves (Mk 12:29-31), which Paul condenses, saying, ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’ (Gal 5:6) We can’t be prescriptive about obedience but must learn to listen to the Shepherd’s voice and then do whatever He says. (Jn 2:5)