We have nothing of real value as far as material things that we can offer to Jehovah that He has not given to us. However, there is one thing we can offer to him that does not require a lot of expense, time, or effort. We can always be thankful to Jehovah our God and give him praise for all we have and for all He has done for us. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 103 that God has forgiven the sins of His people, and many of the things Jehovah has done for his people.
All have something to thank the Heavenly Father for. All, whether they belong to Christ or not, can find something to be thankful for, but for the Christian, there is even greater abundance for which to be thankful. We should certainly be thankful that Christ died for us, and even greater thankfulness if we have received greater knowledge related to God's grace toward us and the whole world as revealed in the Biblical promises. At the same time, we should maintain the attitude of humility towards what knowledge God has given us, lest we become haughty and think we know it all, etc. (1 Corinthians 8:6) We may well, to whatever extent that God has permitted us to understand divine truths, humbly apply to ourselves the words of our dear savior, "blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn't see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them." -- Matthew 13:16,17.
It may be said that thanksgivings are cheap offerings, but such offerings are not cheap in that they are less appreciated, but only in that it does not cost us much to give praise to Jehovah in thanksgiving for what He has done for us. But such praise and thanksgiving should not be just from the lips, but rather what may be expressed from the lips should be from the heart. The Psalmist uses the words "O my soul" which appears to indicate that he was not simply giving a routine or outward expression of thanks, but that it was from his entire being. Likewise, with all of us today; our thankfulness should be real, not just a religious ritual. Indeed, the child of God will be truly thankful to Jehovah and offer him praise for his benefits as from his very being, and such surely will be acceptable and pleasing to Jehovah.
In Exodus 30, we find God's instructions related to the priest's usage of incense. Psalm 141:2 likens incense to prayer. (See also Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4) Thus, incense is used as a type of the reality, which means that prayer, worship, and praise are the most direct offerings of "incense" to Jehovah. Nevertheless, for the child of God, our "incense" of praise offered to our God should be with God's spirit, influencing us to be like Jesus. By allowing God's spirit of lead us, we will not just offer our "incense" on the "Golden Altar" but we also make our offering upon "the brazen altar" in the "Court" of good works. God's spirit will lead us to be "doing good unto all men as we have opportunity, especially to the household of faith." – Galatians 6:10.
Nor should we have a mind to only thank God for the things that are beneficial to the flesh, but even more importantly, we should be thankful for the benefits of the experiences that God gives us even if those experiences should be bitter to our flesh. All who live godly in this world will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12) All who belong to Christ will suffer in this world, not just as the world is suffering, but also because they do belong to Jesus. We should "also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance." (Romans 5:3) We should also keep in our hearts the word of the apostle: "Our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." -- 2 Corinthians 4:17.
Ronald R. Day, Sr. (ResLight)
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