A quick history

In early July 05, I (Mingdao) had in mind a plan to get several of my friends to tell me something that they wanted to thank God for, and I would feature the thanksgivings in one quick post on my blog. Then I thought – why confine these thanksgivings to one short post on a blog? What if I could get thanksgivings regularly featured and shared on some kind of platform, where anyone could submit thanksgivings and rejoice in the thanksgivings of others…One thing led to another, and behold, this site was born.

Why thank?

Thanking God, I believe, is something completely natural for us to do. God, out of his loving kindness, made us and gave us a whole amazing life to live for Him, and a beautifully designed world to enjoy and dwell in. When we thank God, we’re doing something we were born to do, and it truly pleases God.

What reasons do the bible give for why we should thank God?

  1. Because He is God! (Psalm 118:28)
  2. Because He is good, and His love endures forever (Psalm 107:1)
  3. Because it’s God’s will for us (1 Thess 5:18)

In 2 Cor 4:13-15, Paul wrote that it is God’s grace that causes people to overflow with thanksgiving – the mercy that he showed to us by giving us life through His only son’s death. So thanking is really just a natural response to this act of love! When we realise how much He’s done for us, what else can we do but want to thank Him our whole lives?

Why in public?

A further question now arises – why should we thank in public? Did not Jesus tell us to do these things in secret (Matthew 6)? A clear distinction should be made here between announcing thanksgivings in public, for the purpose of drawing attention to or boasting about oneself, and thanking in public for the purpose of encouraging others. Psalm 35:17-18 says:

“How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions!

Then I will thank you in front of the entire congregation. I will praise you before all the people.”

Two good reasons here for thanking God in public. Firstly, it encourages others. In a prayer meeting I was at a few years back, we were sharing some things to thank God for, and one of my friends, who’d been mostly quiet so far, suddenly spoke up. “I want to thank God for…just knowing everything. He knows every single thing, and I really want to thank Him for that.” His thanksgiving point was small and simple, but to me it was immensely profound, and most heart-warming. That I still remember today shows how much of an encouragement it was to me. And that leads me to the second reason – thanking God in public motivates others want to thank God too. Hearing my friend’s thanksgiving point simply filled my own heart with so many more thanksgivings, as I’m sure it did to everyone else present that day. We all need reminders from time to time on the goodness and greatness of God, and that’s exactly what I pray this site will be – a reminder, a motivator, and an encouragement.

So let’s start thanking!

This site, of course, is nothing without your support and thanksgivings, so may I invite you to submit thanksgivings from your heart, on a regular basis, or as and when you want. It will feature a fresh new thanksgiving everyday, so do visit regularly to be encouraged and reminded.

Someone once said, “Sad is the atheist who when filled with joy and thankfulness, realises he does not have anyone to thank.” We who believe in a loving and perfect God should be thrilled to have the privilege of every moment for thanking, so let’s do so continually, with gladness and joy!

“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:19b-20