Guidelines for a Lifestyle of Thankfulness: Part Two

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18).

Three aspects of thanksgiving are noted in the text. Today and the next two days consider these traits. The three we relate to are all internal aspects of inner life.

We must have the capacity to express joy. Such is encouraged at the end of verse 28 it is “the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  That is, God wants you to express joy. In each of these the modifier comes emphatically before the verb: Always rejoice, Continually pray, in everything give thanks.

Centuries earlier the prophet Nehemiah (8:10) said of Israel, in one of their greatest times of difficulty, “The joy of the Lord is thy strength.”

The angelic messenger shouted, “Joy to the world the Lord has come.” This isn’t a bonfire-pep-rally-kind-of-energy-of-the-flesh elation that soon fades. Neither is it a type of self-delusion brought about by not facing reality. Nor is it the synthetic kind mirrored by fake smiles and quoted slogans. It is a calm, consistent sense of well-being because all is well with the Father, even if ALL isn’t well in your world.

All was not well with the Christians who initially received this letter. They had “received the word in much affliction, with joy in the Holy Spirit” (I Thess. 1: 6). Notice they had “much affliction.”  They are described in 2:14 as having “also suffered.”

The exhibition of joy amid suffering was one of the distinctive traits of the young church. It still characterizes a Spirit-filled believer. 

This command is an imperative statement, an appeal to the will. It reminds us that we are in part responsible for maintaining an outlook filled with joy.  It reminds us that Christian joy is not totally dependent upon externals, but is a result of the internal presence of the Holy Spirit and His being given control of our attitude.

Don’t be disappointed with yourself if you have had difficult times and have failed to rejoice. However, never be content to let such a spirit characterize you. For a Christian to remain sad, negative, or in a complaining mood is to break a command. It shows a basic mistrust of God: either His love, wisdom, or power.

To be around some people, even on their good days, is as cheering as diving into an icy lake. Don”t let the glow and glory of your today be polluted by the garbage of someone’s gloom.  Don’t live in the valley of the humdrum. Move up to the mountains of joy.

Before His ascension our beloved Lord said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15: 11).

The elderly Apostle John wrote, “These things we write to you that your joy may be full” (I John 1:4).