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Ask Pastor John

Christian Thankfulness: What It Is (and Isn’t)

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.83.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2024

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What is Christian thankfulness? Pastor John commends the power of a heart filled with gratitude to the Giver of every good gift.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Happy Thanksgiving Day. It's a national holiday for us in the States. We're very grateful that you

0:09.4

listen to the podcast and are along with us today. And no matter where you live in the world,

0:14.5

we are praying that you have a day full of Christ-centered thankfulness for all the blessings that we enjoy in this life.

0:23.3

Thanksgiving is an essential daily practice for all Christians, and it's evidence of our

0:29.3

soul's well-being, as Charles Spurgeon said.

0:33.1

Thanksgiving is one of the best ways to keep yourselves in spiritual health.

0:38.6

That's a great line. Thanksgiving is like spiritual cardio for us in the Christian life. If we lose gratitude,

0:44.6

we lose spiritual vibrance. So when it comes to this Thanksgiving day here in the state,

0:51.6

it's no small holiday for the Christian. So Pastor John, I don't have a

0:55.3

question for you today. Just use this day to invest a few minutes to help us refocus on what the

1:00.3

Bible says here by leading us in a Thanksgiving Day meditation, if you would.

1:07.0

Let's take a moment and ponder what the experience of thankfulness actually is.

1:15.2

And here I'm going to limit myself to Christian thankfulness.

1:19.5

So I'm not talking about Hitler's thankfulness that his liquidation techniques have become more efficient.

1:26.2

That kind of thankfulness is wicked. There is

1:29.3

wicked thankfulness. Nor am I talking about a kind of good thankfulness the way most people

1:37.5

celebrate Thanksgiving who don't have any relationship with God at all, but feel that they are the beneficiary of some kind of benevolence

1:47.0

and usually attribute it to other people. I'm talking about Christian thankfulness, the kind that God is

1:56.2

very pleased with. Now, what is it? It's a feeling, an emotion, an affection in the heart that rises

2:08.1

spontaneously in response to receiving something that will increase our enjoyment of Christ.

2:18.7

That's my definition of Christian thankfulness.

2:23.1

A couple of comments about that definition.

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