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The act of thanksgiving

Written by Dede Abebreser Tsonyake.

“Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” Philippians 4:6-NIV

“From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers and they will not be decreased, I will bring them honour and they will not be disdained.” Jeremiah 30:19-NIV

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and then through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11-NIV

For today's devotional, I want to encourage us to consider the various ways thanksgiving was done in the bible. That way we do not leave out other forms of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an ACT (something that someone does) of giving thanks to God (divine thanksgiving). And this act is in three different forms in the bible. The first form is what we find in Philippians 4:6. Through prayer, we are able to thank God. The second form is what we find in Jeremiah 30:9 and Nehemiah 12:27, 46. Through songs of praise, we thank our God. The last form we find in 2 Corinthians 9:11. Through giving or offering, we thank our God as well.

The most common forms of thanksgiving are prayer and songs of praise. As for the giving or offering, it is costly so many tend to ignore that one. In as much as the other forms of thanksgiving are as important as thanksgiving through giving or offering, the latter puts us one step ahead. Anytime we give God what costs us, the blessings that follow are priceless. In the Old Testament, we see many offerings of thanksgiving and the blessings that came the way of those individuals (Gen 4:2-4, Gen 22, Gen 35:14). Luke 6:38 promises reward after giving.

Our God wants us to talk to Him through prayers as we offer our thanksgiving, to sing His praise as we offer our thanksgiving but we stand to gain more as we offer thanksgiving through giving. Giving here is not just money but anything that costs us. It could be your time, knowledge, food, clothes etc. This festive season, let us give as an act of thanksgiving to God and God shall bless us.

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