Thanksgiving
Lets look on Hebrews 12:28, in two different Bible version (NKJV and NIV)
1st. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (Hebrews 12:28, NKJV emphasis added)
2nd. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. – Hebrews 12:28, (NIV, emphasis added)
Actually, each one is a correct translation. In Greek, “to have grace”-the key word is charis-is the same as saying “thank you.” There is a direct connection between grace and thankfulness. An unthankful person is a person who is outside the grace of God. You cannot be unthankful and be found within the grace of God.
Three of the world’s Romance languages, those based on Latin, all retain a direct connection between grace and thankfulness. In French, grace a Dieu means, “thanks to God.” In Italian, the word for “thank you” is grazie. In Spanish, it is gracias. You cannot separate thankfulness from the grace of God. When we say “grace” before a meal, we are really saying “let us be thankful.”
There is a beautiful passage in Psalm 95 that depicts the progress into worship. It begins with loud, jubilant praise-a lot Louder than some churches normally would be comfortable with.
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1)
Thanksgiving and praise. There is no other way into the presence of God.
I think that if there is one thing that is hard for God to accept, it is halfhearted praise. Scripture says, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised” (Psalm 145:3). In fact, if you are not prepared to praise Him greatly, don’t do it at all.
“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” (Psalm 95:2)
Notice again the two stages of access: thanksgiving and praise. There is no other way into the presence of God. The next three verses give us the reason why we should praise and thank God. The Bible is very logical. It does not just ask us to thank and praise God; it tells us why.
– For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods. (Psalm 95:3)
– In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
(Psalm 95:4-5)
– Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. (Psalm 95:6)
The only response to a revelation of the holiness of God is worship.
So we come to Him thanking Him, praising Him for the marvels of His creation. But that is only our way of access. In verse six we come to worship. Praise and thanksgiving are really our way of approach into worship. Then notice, as soon as we come to worship, it is an attitude. Here we have passed from utterance into attitude. We began with praise and thanksgiving, but that wasn’t the end or goal. When Christians stop with praise and thanksgiving, they have really missed the goal: true worship-which is not an utterance but an attitude.