These days it seems most Christians arenβt satisfied with βjustβ being saved. Many also covet the health and wealth promised to Israel if they were good. But grace believers who have carefully studied all that we have in Christ never cease βgiving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in lightβ (Col. 1:12). This is because, as Pastor Stam has well said in his comments on Romans 8:32, salvation is βthe gift that includes all others.β
Under the Law, a man could simplyΒ sayΒ he was thankful, but if he wasΒ reallyΒ thankful, he also brought a costlyΒ thank offeringΒ (Lev. 7:11-15). Today, while God is no longer interested inΒ animalΒ sacrifices, a truly thankful believer will presentΒ his bodyΒ to God as aΒ livingΒ sacrifice. This kind of sacrifice costs us our time, our labor and our money, but it is only βreasonableβ that we afford Him this service (Rom. 12:1) in light of all that He has done for us in Christ.
Psalm 69:30βs reference to thanksgiving is especially significant since this is a psalm about Calvary (v. 21 cf. John 19:29,30). Because of this, we believe Verse 30 is a prediction of the thanksgiving the Lord gave in the very shadow of the Cross (Luke 22:19). We conclude from this that the Lord was actuallyΒ thankfulΒ for the opportunity to serve His Father by giving His life a sacrifice for our sins. How thankful was He? Psalm 69:30 predicted He would be thankful βwith a song,β something confirmed by Mark 14:26. This suggests we should similarly present our bodies as living sacrifices to God with joy and singing, and not with grumbling and complaining!
Thanksgiving is a great way to edify other believers, but only if they can understand it (I Cor. 14:16,17). While God once gave the gift of tongues to help with this, that gift has been withdrawn (1 Cor. 13:8). But thankfully, like the universal languages of math and music, every believer can understand and be edified when they see us walking a walk that is βworthy of the Lord unto all pleasingβ in grateful appreciation for all He has done for us (Col. 1:10). source
