The turkey that cooks were desperately trying to thaw yesterday morning are now carved into multiple pieces, chilling again in the frozen climes of the freezer, awaiting transformation into multiple manifestations of last-minute leftovers on another day. Aluminum wrapped packages line the doors and shelves of refrigerators. It’s enough to make a cook wonder, at least fleetingly, “was it really worth all the effort of time and funds to create that meal?”
All the energy and fuss spent on one meal and a day later the primary thought on most people’s minds is, “where can I get the best Black Friday/Christmas deal today?” The work and verbalizations of gratitude a day earlier are easily forgotten and ignored today. Was the energy expended yesterday futile or wasted?
The same question might also be asked in a spiritual sense: we understand the biblical imperative to give thanks, but is that expression of thanks merely a momentary tribute to God? Or is there a more lasting way of understanding how gratitude functions in our hearts and lives? Why is thankfulness important?
Gratitude is important because our thankfulness for God’s action in the past fortifies our faith for the future. The more we recognize the magnitude of God’s provision and work for us in every arena of our lives, the more predisposed we will be to anticipate and trust God’s provision of grace in the future. The intent of thanksgiving is not only to make us reflective over the past, but to deepen our faith for the future (e.g., Pss. 105-106 and 1 Cor. 10:1-11).
John Piper has written extensively and wisely on this topic (see especially his book Future Grace):
There is a sense in which gratitude and faith are interwoven joys that strengthen each other. As gratitude joyfully revels in the benefits of past grace, so faith joyfully relies on the benefits of future grace. [By this term Piper means a trust that God will provide in the future all the grace we need to deal with every circumstance of our lives.] Therefore when gratitude for God’s past grace is strong, the message is sent that God is supremely trustworthy in the future because of what he has done in the past. In this way faith is strengthened by a lively gratitude for God’s past trustworthiness.…
Gratitude for bygone grace is constantly saying to faith, “Be strong, and do not doubt that God will be as gracious in the future as I know he’s been in the past.”
So Thanksgiving is useful — not only for a fridge full of food for another day, but for the stimulant that expressions of gratitude are in equipping and strengthening us to trust in God’s provision and grace to us in future days.
Words of Grace 