Giving Thanks Helps us Remember God and His Goodness

The following excerpt from With Thanksgiving teaches on how giving thanks helps us to remember God and His goodness.

One of the sad realities of human nature is how easily we forget. I am not referring to how we can forget a person’s name moments after meeting them—though we would do well to improve the skill of remembering names. I am referring to how we can forget God. We can lose sight of His goodness and lose track of answered prayers. We can fail to remember the sin and oppression He has brought us out of, the trials He has brought us through, or the promises He has brought us into. We can forget that He holds our very life and breath in His hands.

God knows that we have this tendency to forget. He warned His people about this when they were preparing to enter the Promised Land.

Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and  when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (Deuteronomy 8:11-14)

Imagine being the children of Israel, enslaved and oppressed for hundreds of years in Egypt. Then God Himself delivers you from the nation that was keeping you in bondage, with powerful signs and wonders. He then leads you into your own land that is rich, fruitful, and secure. Everything is flourishing, and you become a prosperous nation. But then imagine that you forget the God who set you free, led you, and established you. This is what God warned His people about.

A few verses later, God continued to emphasize the importance of remembering Him: “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Some have misused this verse by emphasizing acquiring wealth instead of emphasizing remembering God. The Lord is saying here that when He has provided for us or given us abundance, we must not forget that He is the source. The emphasis is on remembering Him.

Unfortunately, we can see throughout Scripture that many times God’s people did not heed this warning to remember. They often forgot Him, worshiped idols, and neglected the Lord’s commands. But we have the opportunity to learn from these examples and cultivate a heart that remembers God.

Giving Thanks Helps Us Remember

Throughout the Bible, we see that the Lord gives His people intentional ways to remember what He has done for them. He instituted the Passover as a way for Israel to remember their deliverance from Egypt. He gave them other feasts to celebrate and recall His provision and grace. There were stones of remembrance and other memorials that served as signs of God’s faithfulness to His people. And in the New Testament, Jesus instituted the sacrament of communion in order to help us remember His sacrifice on the cross. God knows that we need these reminders.

God has also given us thanksgiving as a tool for remembrance. Psalm 50:22-23 (ESV) gives a warning against forgetting God, but there is also a key in this passage about how to remember.

Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.

The one who forgets God is contrasted with the one who offers thanks. This is one of the powerful aspects of thanksgiving—it helps us to remember God and His goodness. Psalm 9:1 (ESV) gives us more insight into this concept: “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” As we give God thanks, we are recounting what He has done for us.

When you cultivate a lifestyle of giving thanks, you are also cultivating a lifestyle of remembering God. When you thank God for saving you, you remember Him and His grace and mercy to you. When you thank God for providing, you remember that He is the ultimate source and provider. Giving thanks counters our natural tendency to forget. It helps us to remember God and His faithfulness to us.

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The topic of thanksgiving can be found woven throughout the pages of Scripture, but we have often not seen its true value and significance in the life of a believer. With Thanksgiving is all about the transforming power of giving thanks. It is a short but powerful study on the topic of thanksgiving.