Jesus gathered all his disciples for The Last Supper before his crucifixion. Jesus’s death was supposed to be something grievous and dreadful. However, we could see that Jesus was positive and rightful concerning his death.

In this passage, it is interesting to know when Jesus partook his Last Supper, he gave a positive reaction and gave thanks to The Lord.

This serves as a great example for us, especially during this day and age on how the world is chaotic and our life is full of trials, yet we are encouraged to give thanks through each day.

Luke 22:14-16 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Care of Gratitude

Despite the negative situations that are continuously rising, we need to look at the things we have, like food, family, possessions that the Lord has given us, be extremely grateful, and count them all joy because there are millions of people in the world are not as lucky.

The reason why we become ungrateful at times or even resentful towards God is because we tend to compare ourselves with people whom we perceive to be more blessed than us because of their financial status.

We Christians have salvation which is given by God’s grace! That is the best blessing and gift that God can give us already, that alone reminds us that we should not be complaining. This realization can easily help us to put things into perspective, and for us to show compassion towards people who are rich in possession, but poor in spirit, or even not saved!

Take comfort and full advantage of simple things in life, like a good night’s sleep, a good meal, etc; and not take it for granted, or the Lord might just remove them away from us.

Overcoming Obstacles to Giving Thanks

Sometimes we may find it really difficult to give thanks to The Lord because the obstacles are just too big or emotions are too overwhelming. It is times like this that we need to really look into our hearts, especially our hearts to seek the Lord. If we are spiritually inclined and hungry for God, our feelings of gratitude will naturally surface. Despite God has blessed us with so much, we tend to find more things to hate or critic than to love, then we will fall into sadness and despair.

Once again, we are reminded that it is all about choice, we can choose to live a life full of hatred, or full of love for our Savior, and those around us despite the trials.

Luke 22:17-19 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Gratitude should be Customary and Habitual

It should be natural and a very easy routine for us to give thanks to the Lord, the first thing in the morning, the last thing before we go to bed; and of course everything else from little to big in between.
To help ourselves accustomed to that habit, we simply think of our betterment in the overall plan of God in our life rather than the temporary negative situation that we are going through.

Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

The Cost of Gratitude

Jesus shed every last drop of his blood to save us from God’s wrath. The reason why we should be grateful for everything in our lives is that our Savior paid a heavy cost for our lives to be saved. We need to also remember the martyrs, who sacrificed themselves for Christ’s sake so that the gospel could be preserved for us.

Our souls are eternally saved despite how much Satan tries to afflict our souls. Never forget that, and use that as a means of living a positive and spiritually enriched life.