Traditionally, we are in the season of thanksgiving. It is relatively easy to thank God for the blessings we see around us. We can easily say, ‘Thank God’ for good health or ‘Thank God’ for the new job. We can thank God that we didn’t lose any family member within a certain period. Well, sometimes, that depends on how much of the family tree you consider. So while some folks are counting the blessings, someone is still in the hospital battling with a life-threatening situation, another one just lost a job and somebody else is nursing the wounds of a broken relationship. Someone might have plotted a line graph of his goals and accomplishments for the year to chart his progress and discovered that the line remained parallel to the x-axis. In fact he probably would have had a fair share of south-bound dips along the line. In summary, like we used to say in our Physics class, no work was done!

In spite of whatever, everyone’s got to give thanks. The one counting his or her trophies should give thanks. The one wishing the woes of the past year were a bad dream should give thanks. The one whose story has been that of a plain-vanilla year should give thanks too. Because if our giving of thanks is only based on the things we can easily recognize as blessings or benefits, we would be left stammering or grumbling when we can’t find any of those. So I want to give you three reasons why you must give thanks at all times.

Give thanks because God is good. Psalm 106: 1 – Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. It is only a good God that would allow the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous. Imagine if God gets so angry each time we abuse or curse another creature of His that he stops our heart or gives a choke hold for a few minutes. What if he penalized you for every single act of sin you commit? It is because of His goodness that He keeps forgiving and forgiving us each time we mess up and repent. No matter what happens to us or around us, God is still good. His goodness can be seen in our triumphs and trying moments if we would think and look hard enough.

Give thanks because giving thanks is a good thing. Psalm 92:1 – It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. We can never be wrong when we give thanks. We can’t get charged or convicted in the court of heaven for giving thanks. Thanksgiving is apt for every moment of life. When we get a brand new car, it is a good thing to shout ‘Praise the Lord’. If that car gets scratched on a mad traffic day, it is equally a cool moment to scream ‘Hallelujah’. Give thanks when the sun shines and when the rain falls. It is always a good thing to give thanks and there are no wrong moments to say ‘Thank you God’.

Give thanks because it is God’s will for us. I Thess 5:18 – In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Reading this gives me the feeling that God is very content with us when we give Him thanks. He considers us a fulfilled lot when we praise Him. He says this is His will concerning us. So if you were still searching for your purpose in life, I just found one for you! Start giving God thanks and you would be living out His will and purpose for your life. And really, there is nothing better than living a fulfilled life.

Think about this: For the one who is immensely grateful for the blessings received during the course of the year, would the intensity of gratitude diminish if the blessings were taken away? For the one who feels the year has been flat and uneventful, does his or her evaluation diminish the goodness of God in any way? I don’t think so. There would always be reasons to be grateful to God. Search for them, even if it appears more difficult than searching for treasures on Treasure Hunt Island. God has been good and deserves our gratitude.

I am just thankful!