...And be thankful

After going through a Biblical text many times (or any other text for that matter), you start to notice certain things you wouldn't have noticed before, as you may know from your own experience.

One such feature that stands out to me in Colossians is Paul's repeated emphasis on thankfulness to God.

Using the NIV, we see this emphasis 6 times:

1:10-12 - Paul prays that the Colossians may “live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”

2:6-7 - “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

3:15 - “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

3:16 - “Let the words of Christ dwell in your richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom , and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

3:17 - “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him.”

4:2 - “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Clearly, thankfulness is of great importance to the apostle. Do we take enough time to thank God - to really devote time and energy to thanking him? Every minute we aren't suffering is another moment lived under his mercy. Our list of things to be thankful for is an endless one. Paul knew this. His letter to the Colossians is relatively short - only 4 chapters - but he is so aware of our need for gratitude that he mentions it 6 times, as if every interaction we have with God and others naturally includes thankful awareness.

Imagine how God must desire our thankfulness, not just in words, but with sincere hearts. He must delight greatly when one of his children looks up to him with a truly grateful heart, acknowledging his goodness and our need, his grace and our dependence, his power and our weakness. Too often, I think we assume, “He knows I'm thankful.” Let us not forget that our relationship with him is like relationships with the people in our everyday lives. Anyone appreciates being thanked for something they've done for someone else - even though it isn't required or expected. It simply let's them know you appreciated the blessing. Parents train their children from the beginning to say “thank you” for what they've received. Certainly we don't deserve all the countless blessings in our lives, so how can we not be thankful?

So here's a question we ought to ask ourselves: Why aren't we more thankful?

Do we find it difficult to be thankful?

Do we take God's grace for granted?

Is our prayer time only enough to allow other kinds of “more important” prayer?

Is it hard to think of what to be thankful for? Why?

One experiment I did a while back was to actually write a list of blessings I could be thankful for. I kept this list with me for a while, praying through some of them frequently.

Our thankfulness is a sign of our faith - our acknowledgment that we really believe God is the originator of every good thing (James 1:17). When we take time to remember what God has done for us in his mercy, he is glorified and we draw closer to him. Then, with his blessings before our eyes, there is no other natural response than to love him and praise him more - which is our primary calling as his children.