Lesson 22: Joy’s thankfulness
Philippians 4:1-23 – www.bible.com/bible/59/php.4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
In this final chapter of Philippians, we find many elements of our faith which provide the joy we need to continue working in Jesus’ kingdom. In the last lesson we noted how important unity between ourselves and other believers is for our lives. Each of these steps we will study is necessary for the next step. We cannot truly be thankful, as we will read in these verses, if we are at war with one of our brothers or sisters in Christ.
Thankfulness to God is one of the most fundamental and important attitudes of being a Christian, of belonging to God. In Romans 1, beginning in verse 18, we see a downward spiral of human attitudes toward God. Verses 18 through 20 state God’s judgment on people who refuse to listen to Him. Verse 21 names two things these people did to start down this path of rejecting God – they did not honor God, and they did not give Him thanks.
Why is giving thanks to God so important? We cannot thank someone while pride rules our heart (Proverbs 16:19) and makes us think we are better than the other person. Thankfulness comes from a heart which knows God is greater and more exalted than we are (Isaiah 55:8-11). It comes from a person who knows they cannot see enough future to understand what is truly good for them (Jeremiah 29:11). It comes from the person who believes God loves them and will never do them harm (John 3:16).
In verse 6 of our passage today we read we are not to be anxious about anything. This means we are not to be anxious about our money, our jobs, our families, our health, our social status, our dreams, anything which happens around us – not anything! But please note this verse does not say we are to be carefree and live as if nothing matters. It does not mean we can spend money carelessly, treat our jobs as unimportant, forsake our families, ignore health issues, or treat others as if they do not matter. It does not mean our dreams for our future are unimportant. Nor does it mean the bad things others do to us or against us are unimportant to God. We must read the rest of the verse – in everything we are to pray and give thanks to God as we ask Him to work out His plan. We must remain vitally and completely involved in the life God has given us now, at this moment. We must remain involved because where God has placed us right now, this moment in time, is of importance to Him and we must seek His face to ask where He wants us to go or what He wants us to say.
*What is hardest for you to give thanks to God for, or to give thanks to God in today?