The Thankfulness of Jesus

 

In 2010 psychologist Robert Emmons and his colleagues wanted to know if there was a scientific way to prove the benefits of gratitude. Dr. Emmon’s team devised a study in which they monitored people’s thankfulness in connection with their general health. They divided 1,000 volunteers from ages 8 to 80 into three groups and each group was tasked with making weekly entries in journals. One group wrote five things they were grateful for. One described five daily hassles. And a control group listed five events that had impacted them in a small way.

The results of the study were revealing. Those who kept “gratitude journals” showed some amazing health benefits compared to those who only noted daily gripes. For example, grateful people had stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, more restful sleep, were generally more optimistic about the future, were more generous, more likely to extend forgiveness and had more friends.

Wow! According to medical science, gratitude is good for you! When you study the life of Jesus, you realize that He lived in constant thankfulness to His Heavenly Father. He was thankful when Mary interrupted the party with perfume. When He hugged children and watched blind people look at their first sunsets, Jesus was thankful. When the disciples returned from their first mission trip telling of all the wonderful things God had done, He rejoiced: “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Luke 10:21).

When He broke the five loaves and two fishes to feed the multitudes, He gave thanks for the food (John 6:11). When He saw that His disciples were growing spiritually, He was thankful, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” (Mat. 11:25).

When Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus, He wiped tears of grief from His eyes and gave thanks for the miracle He was about to perform (John 11:41-42). At the Last Supper, Jesus blessed the elements of the meal, which were also symbolic of His body and blood, making sure to give thanks for the opportunity to sacrifice his life for the world (Luke 22:19).

If Jesus was thankful, how much more should we be for the thousand blessings that flow into our lives. Max Lucado wrote, “To say thanks is to cross the tracks from have-not to have-much, from the excluded to the recruited. Thanks proclaims, “I’m not disadvantaged, disabled, victimized, scandalized, forgotten, or ignored. I am blessed.” Gratitude is a dialysis of sorts. It flushes the self-pity out of our systems.”

Does your happiness depend on what you drive? Wear? Deposit? If so, you have entered the rat race called materialism. You cannot win it! There will always be a newer car to buy or a nicer dress to purchase. And, since the race is unwinnable, you are setting yourself up for unhappiness. Define yourself by stuff, and you’ll feel good when you have a lot and you’ll feel bad when you don’t.

But Jesus shows us to be thankful for eternal things. What you have in Christ is greater than anything you don’t have in life. He gives us a love that’s unconditional, grace that’s always amazing, hope that springs eternal and salvation that cannot be lost by our own failures. The more thankful you are, the more God will work in your life. The Bible says that God inhabits the praise of his people. He uses your thanksgiving as an instrument of power in your life. So, take a moment now, and tell God everything you’re grateful for.