The Continuum: Rooted, Built Up & StrengthenedSample

Day 7 - BEING THANKFUL

Colossians 2:7, "rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

We end this reflection on Colossians 2:6-7 on a wonderful note of thanksgiving. Paul was always full thanksgiving. He often starts his letters with thanksgiving to God for his salvation, for choosing us, for those who share the gospel, for the people to whom he is writing to. In short, Paul is thankful in every way. He often encourages the Christ-follower not just be thankful, but as we see in our text, to overflow with thankfulness. 

He is not writing to people who are living in peaceful times. There was much danger and persecution and even the threat of death if you were found to be following Christ. It is in these hard circumstances that he is reminding them to be thankful in everything. 

What is the opposite of thankfulness? A lack of gratitude, grumbling. God takes a serious view of a lack of thankfulness. Just look at Rom 1:21, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."

A lack of thankfulness changes the way we think because our fault-finding, grumbling attitude becomes the filter through which we see life. Everything is punctuated with a, “but it could have been better,” "but it could have been this or that..” 

We begin to take for granted the grace of God upon our lives. We even begin to think the blessing is our right and so develop an entitlement attitude.

God is not pleased when we do this. God is not glorified when we think and live this way. It means we are saying that His goodness toward us is not sufficient and that He is doing a bad job of being a good God. What arrogance on our part!! We would be wise to quickly repent of our grumbling and cultivate an attitude of gratitude. 

It was the Israelites grumbling that caused them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years!! Thank God that He does not treat us as our sins deserve but we can certainly delay God’s purposes in our lives and block the flow of His blessing.

There was a season in my life when things were not going too well and all I could see were the negatives: what needed change, how things could be done better, how people could behave better. It was as if smog had clouded my brain. I was unable to worship and hear God speak to me. I would feel emotionally drained. Do you know that grumbling is physically exhausting? What gives you strength? Joy!! We are told that the Joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). When we wait on Him, we become strong (Isaiah 40:31).

I repented of this sinful mindset and attitude and began by giving thanks to God for ten things in my life every day. Slowly that list grew. I began to thank people around me for things they did that I otherwise took for granted. It began to change the atmosphere inside me and around me.

CONCLUSION - As we end this devotional may I encourage you to find a way in which you can continue to strengthen your faith, increase your understanding of who God is by spending time in His Word and live out what you read in the Bible. Practice thanksgiving every day and you will see yourself grow as a flourishing tree.

REFLECT AND ASK YOURSELF

Is my default thought process to find fault or to be grateful?

What ten things can you give thanks for today? 

What 5 things can you give thanks to God for in a person or situation that is not working out the way you would like it?

REFERENCES

Col 2: 7, Psalm 9:1, Ps 100:4-5, Phil 4:6-7, 1 Thes 5:16-18

We thank Navaz D’Cruz for writing this devotional. She and her husband Colin lead Word of Grace Church. www.wordofgracechurch.org