Thankfulness to God appears in multiple verses

Thankfulness to God appears in multiple verses throughout both the Old and New Testaments. God, the true author of scripture, has placed a heavy importance on the act of being thankful and living a thankful life. God is not vain but rather, He desires us to be thankful to Him which will keep our focus of life positive. Jesus prayed to the Father saying, “My joy would be fulfilled in themselves (us)”. This is not to say that our God does not understand many of our sufferings. Even in Ecclesiastes, God tells us that there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh” – “a time to mourn and a time to dance”. However, the concept of thankfulness to God is laced throughout all scriptures, making it obvious that God wants us to refocus on His eternal goodness and not on the things of this earth. This week many of us will sit with friends and family sharing a meal and possibly sharing a testimony. My prayer for everyone is that this time will be spent in thankfulness to the very God who loves us so much that He even sent His Son into this world to die so that we might spend eternity with Him.