‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬Sacrifices were at the core of Old Testament worship. Twice daily they offered sacrifices – morning and evening. They had sacrifice at the sighting of new moon every month. Then you have the sacrifices that went with the three major feasts of the Lord. Sacrifices were made continually. The time that the sacrifices stopped coincided with period of apostasy in Israel. We concluded yesterday that giving thanks is equivalent to making sacrifices to God. For us thanksgiving is not just acknowledgment of what God has done, it is our duty and calling. Understandably, our text enjoins us to give thanks continually, much the same way the sacrifices in the Old Testament were perpetual.

For us thanksgiving is not just acknowledgment of what God has done, it is our duty and calling…our text enjoins us to give thanks continually, much the same way the sacrifices in the Old Testament were perpetual.

Can we have enough items for ceaseless thanks unto God as long as we live? Yes, if we follow the pattern. Psalms 136 segmented thanksgiving into three. The first focus offers thanks to God for His creative enterprise displayed in the universe. This has nothing to do with any specific act of God received. This is the loftiest form of thanksgiving, appreciating His genius for all the wonderful things He created. The second portion deals with God’s hands of deliverance towards Israel. In adopting this model, we can equally thank God for keeping the seed of Abraham alive till today in the face of stiff oppositions that have vowed to discontinue them as a nation. As an extension of this, we can thank God for His blessings upon the spiritual Israel, the Church. Finally, there is a portion devoted to thank God for His supplies for all flesh. You will never run out of what to thank God for if you follow this pattern.