The Apostle Paul And Thanksgiving

November 2024 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Apostle Paul And Thanksgiving

The apostle Paul had many difficult experiences after becoming a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote: “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness – besides the other things” (2 Cor. 11:24-28 NKJV ).

Despite all these things, Paul pressed on “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). He kept “looking unto Jesus … who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2). And, Paul remained thankful.

In Scripture, we find the apostle and giving thanks mentioned together more than 40 times, whether he was doing so or speaking about it. Giving thanks was important to him. He primarily directed his thanksgiving to “God” such as in Acts 27:35. Paul thanked “God the Father” and “Christ Jesus,” as we read in Ephesians 5:20 and 1 Timothy 1:12, and he thanked individuals and churches too (Rom. 16:3-4). We may do well in thanking others, but do we thank God as we should?

Paul gave thanks for many things, especially fellow believers (1:8). He offered thanks as well for food (Acts 27:35), deliverance (Rom. 7:25), gifts God gave to him to be used in His service (1 Cor. 14:18; 1 Tim. 1:12), the victory in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57), triumph in Him (2 Cor. 2:14), the care shown to the saints by other workers of the Lord (8:16), and the blessings already granted and those yet to come as “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12).

May we be like Paul, who wrote:

• “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
• “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Th. 5:18).
• “Give thanks to God always for [other believers]” (2 Th. 2:13).

By Paul Alberts