Jesus Gave Thanks

BY Kayla De La Torre

I babysat a lot in college, mostly for families in the church I attended. Stepping into their homes, I got to see the sweetest spiritual rhythms and routines as parents taught their children about following Jesus, and I loved getting to join in for all the dinner and bedtime prayers, Bible-story reading, and worship-music dance parties. My absolute favorite memory ever, however, is of one of my little friends asking his mom, “Does Jesus like cheese sticks? I think he does. What about mashed potatoes? I think he does.” These are the greatest things he has in his life, so, of course, Jesus would like them, too! 

While I draw so much joy from this memory, in reflecting on today’s reading, it did make me wonder if I only give thanks for the cheese stick and mashed potato moments. It is absolutely necessary and wonderful to give thanks for these things, and I want the childlike faith that pushes me to give thanks for both the largest and smallest things in my life. But I can also find myself only giving thanks for the things I am excited about or happy to receive. Do I give thanks when, instead of mashed potatoes, I get broccoli for dinner?

It is humbling, encouraging, and even a little convicting to read the wide variety of situations Jesus gave thanks in. He gave thanks when He was tired after a long day’s teaching but wanted to feed the hungry crowds around him. He gave thanks at the joy of seeing His followers return from the good work He sent them to do, and He delighted in the ways they’d listened to and trusted in His words. He gave thanks in deep sorrow and grief, mourning the loss of His close friend but thanked the Father in advance for raising Lazarus. And He gave thanks when He was on the cusp of the darkest, scariest, most intensely painful thing He ever experienced: His own death. 

In all these things, Jesus gave thanks. In Scripture, I can see that His life was filled with similar emotions and experiences that I know weigh down my praise and make it difficult for me to find things worth giving thanks for. But in His example, I see giving thanks as a multipurpose tool. It is a cup of cool water when we need reminders of what is good and true as we build resilience. It is a megaphone to tell whatever emotional or physical burden we carry, “I know who is in control.” It is a yoke that shifts my burdens where they actually belong—on God’s perfect and strong shoulders (Matthew 11:29–30). As you also learn from Jesus’s example, try giving thanks to God for who He is and all He has given, maybe even giving thanks for the thing that is the hardest of all to be grateful for. I pray that in doing so, you will find whatever you need in Him.