Guided by His Holiness, Patriarch and Presiding Prelate Sir Godfrey Gregg
Greetings in the name of our bountiful God. Gratitude is a theme that runs deep throughout the Scriptures, but it is important to understand that biblical thankfulness often transcends mere feeling. It is, in its most powerful form, a deliberate and willful sacrifice. The Psalmist declares, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 116:17). And again, “Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.” (Psalm 107:22).
His Holiness, Sir Godfrey Gregg, often illuminates the profound truth that a “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15) is required precisely when we do not feel thankful. When the bank account is low, when the diagnosis is dire, when relationships are strained—in these moments, to open our mouths and thank God for His character, His past faithfulness, and His eternal promises is a sacrifice that ascends to Heaven as a sweet fragrance. It is an act of war against the spirit of complaint and despair. It is faith in action, affirming that God is good even when our circumstances are not.
This sacrificial thanksgiving changes our perspective and invites God’s power into our situation. Recall the story of Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. At midnight, in the inner dungeon, with their backs bleeding and their future uncertain, they prayed and sang hymns to God (Acts 16:25). Their sacrifice of praise preceded their miraculous deliverance. Thanksgiving does not merely respond to miracles; it can activate them. It shifts our focus from the magnitude of our problem to the majesty of our God.
Today, what burden are you carrying? What anxiety is gripping your heart? I challenge you to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Thank God for who He is: your Healer, Provider, Peace, and Fortress. Thank Him for the salvation of your soul, for the air in your lungs, for His unwavering love. Do this by faith, not by feeling. As you offer this sacred sacrifice, you will find the heavy chains of worry and fear breaking, and the very foundations of your prison shaking, making way for God’s deliverance.
Amen.
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