A Life of Thanksgiving to God

When I read through lyrics printed on the insert in cassettes or CDs years ago, I also read the tribute of thanks written by the band or individual members.  I was always pleased when I saw God or Jesus being thanked because it suggested these were Christian artists I supported and listened to.  Looking back, it was more of a legalistic tick box than anything.  Even if God or biblical truth was completely absent from the lyrics, at least they acknowledged God and thus could be justified as believers.  Hmmm.

This realisation came to me when I recently unwrapped a CD purchased online of a Christian artist I enjoy thoroughly.  For whatever reason I turned to the thanks section and was surprised not to see a mention of God anywhere.  But then I considered how every single song on the album was from a godly perspective, even at times directly quoting the words of Jesus.  Wasn't it better to include God and His truth in every song rather than a cliche "thank God" at the end?  Instead of tacking on a mention of God in closing, lumped in with acknowledging sound technicians, studios, contributing artists, guitar and amp companies, to honour God throughout every song is actually a more fitting way to approach writing an album.

It struck me we can live life similar to albums that have no mention of God in their songs or content at all except on the back page in the fine print that requires a magnifying glass and bright light to read.  We can go through our days or even our lives concluding with a brief prayer of thanks to God when He ought to have been our main focus at all times.  Since Christians have been bought with the blood of Jesus and are not our own, it is our reasonable service to present ourselves as living sacrifices unto God in giving thanks to Him.  Giving thanks or acknowledging God is more than words but can be demonstrated by how we live, what we say and the God-honouring choices we make.

Many Christians kick themselves for being slack with prayer or Bible reading for a few minutes in the morning or evening, but perhaps a better perspective is to live with God in mind all day long:  praying and thanking Him when you are not reading your Bible during devotions or before a meal.  We're like, "Oh no, I forgot to pray before eating!" when we ought to pray with gratitude during and after the meal as well.  We can seek the LORD, be content with what He has given us, put off grumbling and complaining, and proclaim how good God is to others as a holy act of service to Him.  I am not suggesting reading the Bible and praying is of no benefit, but let us not think "I'm good" because we embraced spiritual disciplines for a moment and left undone the larger part about living our lives every day to glorify Him.