"In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you."
- I Thessalonians 5:18

I've seen dozens of books written about how to know God's will for your life.  There have been countless thousands of sermons preached on the subject.

Teachers and preachers and theologians have debated and argued through the ages on how to find out the will of God.  Most Christians go through entire lives constantly searching for God's will.

In fact, ask the average Christian, "What is God's will for your life" and most wouldn't know what to say.

And yet, God makes it clear what His will for your life is.  At least in one particular case He does.  He says very plainly and very pointedly, "In EVERY thing give thanks:

FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS CONCERNING YOU."

God's will for YOU is that you give thanks.

Now, who are you to thank?  It starts with God.  Be thankful to Him.  Thankful for salvation.  Thankful for getting what you don't deserve and not getting what you do deserve -- thankful for grace and mercy.  Thankful that God is longsuffering and patient despite our rebellion and indifference at times.

Thankful to God for providing food and shelter and clothing.  Thankful for that spouse who sometimes nags and those children who sometimes disobey and that house that needs cleaning and that job that pays the bills and that car that needs a new radiator --- where oh where would you be without them?

Thankful for the ability to walk and talk and move your arms and think rationally and smile and see and hear.

Thankful that God is your strength when things go bad and that He is your refuge when storms come and that He never leaves you when you are hurting and that He is faithful and forgiving and generous.

Yes, we have a lot to thank God for!

But, let us not stop there.  Let me tell you something from experience --- as someone who ministers --- it gets discouraging at times.  You feel unappreciated at times. You pour yourself out and no one ever says "thank you."

Let us "give thanks" to our preachers and pastors who work tirelessly to prepare a message from God and who shepherd the flock and who have to put up with a bunch of complaining and griping and problems for the sake of the call.   Let us give thanks to our Bible teachers and those who prepare the bulletins and the ushers (has anyone EVER thanked an usher?) and the door greeter and the piano player and the guy who writes the devotionals five days a week.

But, let's don't stop there either.  Let us thank our school teachers for their devotion to education and to our neighbors for watching the house while we are away and the waitress who treats us nicely while we are eating (yes, a "thank you" is called for in addition to our tip!) and the cashier who makes sure they double bag the heavy food items.

Let us give thanks to our moms and dads for raising us (someone ought to thank them for changing diapers and staying up all night watching us when we were sick and praying over us when we were teenagers out on Friday nights and for bandaging our cuts and all that stuff) and to our grandmas and grandpas for spoiling us rotten and to our aunts and uncles and cousins and every person in our families that we cherish even though we only see them at family reunions and funerals.

Let us thank those who babysit for us on a moment's notice, our children for just being our children,  the special friend who always seems to know when we are hurting, the one who never forgets our birthday and let us thank them all.

Christian, how many days do we all feel unappreciated? How many times would just a simple, "Thank you for ______" have picked us up and put a smile on our face?  How many times would someone saying, "I appreciate what you did" really put a spring back into our step?

Want to know what God's will is for YOUR life?  His will is for you to give thanks.  Firstly, to Him - and secondly, to all those around you.

So, let ME begin with YOU.  I give thanks to God that I have an audience that I can share what He gives me 5 times a week.  I thank you for having enough love for Jesus Christ to want to hear about Him every morning via email.

Now, it's your turn.

Get out there and tell someone "thanks."

It's one way that I can promise you'll be in God's will.

Have a "Wonderful DAY in Christ,"
Jimmy D. Brown
\o/ Praise Jesus!