The Bible warns us that one of the signs of the last days is that people will not be thankful. Romans 1:18, 21 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ….because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

God has so blessed us that we can begin to take the blessings of God for granted in our lives. There is a growing sense of entitlement in our culture that, if we are not watchful, can begin to affect our relationship with God. Paul warns us that the result of this lack of thankfulness is that we become futile in our thoughts and our foolish hearts are darkened. The lack of thanksgiving results in a world full of greed, and corruption to the point of self-destruction. The tragedy of it all is that our thoughts are so darkened we don’t even understand that we are destroying ourselves and the future of our children.

The cure to this self-destructive trend in our society is transformational thanksgiving in which we purposefully begin to publicly glorify God and give Him thanks for what He does in our lives and gives to us. When was the last time you thanked someone at work, at home or in the market place for something simple he/she did for you? When was the last time you publicly thanked God and gave Him glory for something He helped you with on the job or at home, or something He provided for you?

We need to cultivate an atmosphere of thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Don’t just give thanks when things are going well or for the special things or special occasions,, but in everything give thanks. Thanksgiving should become a lifestyle that just flows out of us in gratitude to God.

Psalms 100:4-5 exhorts us to “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” The gateway to entering into the transformational presence of God is through thanksgiving. We need to take our focus off of our possessions, which we think we cannot live without, and put our focus on God, His goodness, mercy and truth.

In this world filled with grumbling, complaining, criticism and anger, we need to be salt and light by developing lips that continually give thanks and praise to God. As we give thanks and glory to God, it will begin to change our perspective on life and will begin to affect others around us and transform our environment. Thanksgiving will produce love, joy, peace, longsuffering and patience in our lives.

Purpose in your heart today to begin developing a lifestyle of thanksgiving, and you will be amazed at what God will do.