Christians have both many reasons and an obligation to give thanks to God. All nations are called upon to acknowledge and be thankful to God, for He is the ultimate source of every blessing, but genuine Christians especially should “Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).
What does Scripture tell us about thanksgiving as it relates to us as Christians?
A Pharisee asked Jesus Christ which is the greatest commandment. Christ answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).
How many of us have given much thought to this greatest commandment? Do you love God? How do you love God? None of us, indeed no one in the flesh, has ever seen God, that is, in his glorified state (except in vision, but not in reality), although of course many saw Jesus Christ when he appeared among mankind in human flesh (John 1:18; I John 4:12; I Timothy 6:16). How can we know if we love God? How is love for God measured?
Are you a member of the true Church? How many true Churches are there? What is the true Church? How can you know if you are in the true Church? And if you are in the true Church, how can you stay in the true Church of God? These are questions every person who desires to be a genuine Christian faces. We should know the answers. Not knowing the answers has already put the salvation of many in jeopardy, and can put your salvation in jeopardy. A good deal of misinformation has been propagated concerning the matter of being in the Church and how it relates to our standing before God. Years ago, in the midst of an apostasy being engineered by the leaders of a Church of God fellowship, people were told that God called them into a particular corporate Church body, and that’s where he expects them to stay. Individuals have said, “God called me into this Church,” meaning a particular corporate organization, “and this is where I’m staying.”
Is that what God called us into? Is that true?
Does obeying God have any benefit? What is in store for those who obey God? And for those who refuse? Rod Reynolds discusses the question, does it pay to obey God?