Have you ever given or received a Thank You note, or a card? It’s a simple way to express your gratitude and appreciation for something, or just someone being there for you. Maybe you just simply told someone face-to-face “Hey, thanks for being my friend.” or “Thanks for helping out.” A simple thank you can go a long way and mean a lot to someone. It can create a sense of closeness and strengthen the bonds of friendship, and simply let the person know that you value them.
There are many believers who want to thank God, genuinely, but they don’t know how to… or worse they have been taught the wrong ideas on how to thank Him (typically through legalism or a works-mindset), which leads the person into a deep pit of bondage, all stemming from a simple desire to express thankfulness. So the desire can be quite innocent, but can lead to great destruction.
It's safe to say that most believers want to bless God. We sing songs about “blessing His name.”, speaking well of Him (which is technically all that blessing means). But there is a commonly held idea that in order to truly bless God, we must give to Him; an idea that has led many into bondage by trying desperately to give to God something of worth and value in order to somehow demonstrate gratitude.
However is this idea of “giving back to God” really the best way to demonstrate gratitude or bless Him? Is this really what the Bible says? Today we will be answering these questions from scripture to see what really gladdens the heart of God.