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J. RICHARD CHASE
What is thanksgiving? Is it simply giving thanks, or even doing so with a great deal of ferver? Not really. True thanks giving, in the Biblical sense, is more a matter of d o i n g some thing than just saying something. In both Philippians 4:6 and Colossians 2:7 it is clear that the Christian ought to offer thanksgiving. On the surface this suggests that we should be thankful for God's blessings in our life. But thanksgiving is much more. It really means we are to live a certain way. At the heart of the Greek word for "thanks giving" is the idea of m a k i n g o u r s e l v e s p l e a s i n g o r a g r e e a b l e t o a n o t h e r p e r s o n . It is a quality of character, far more than just an appropriate prayer. As you may know, the Lord's Supper is also known as the Eucharist. The word eucharistia is the Greek word of thanks giving that we have been discussing. At the Lord's Supper we are not merely to say something; we do something. As we are reminded in both I Corinthians 11:24 and 25, we do this in remembrance of Christ. In a similar vein we have a fine lesson on the nature of thanksgiving in Hebrews 10. The first part of the chapter em phasizes the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. And our response is a course of action not just a word of thanks. After the transition of verses 19-21 we have a series of responses: Page 4
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