Putting Jesus First: Five Days in ColossiansSample

Gospel Gratitude

Fear, cynicism, misinformation. Is it just me, or do you see these things everywhere you cast your eyes these days? It doesn’t take long to look around and realize that we live in a broken world. For the Christian, there is a greater hope for both our broken hearts and the broken world we live in. In the incredibly difficult and dark circumstances we face in this world, Christians have a unique opportunity to be the Christlike people in this world.

In these opening words of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we see Paul practicing what it means to be marked by gratitude, despite the persecution and imprisonment he and those he is writing to are currently facing.

But for what is Paul thankful? He is thankful for the gospel that has transformed the hearts and lives of the Colossians, for their faith in Christ, for the love they show for other believers (despite their differences and despite the fact that the world tells them they shouldn’t!), for the hope that is laid up in heaven for them, and for the fact that the gospel is bearing fruit not only in their community but all over the world (1:3–6)!

Paul is so eager he radiates gratitude because these Colossians not only say they believe this gospel message; they are acting like it in the way they love one another! And more, they have an eternal hope for their future.

As we walk through trials, disappointments, confusion, misinformation, and suffering of various kinds in this world that can cause us to lose sight of what we are to be most thankful for, let us be that peculiar, otherworldly people who are marked by the gratitude Paul exemplifies in this passage for us. Let us, as Paul will go on to say later in this letter, put on the new self as those who are now a new creation in Christ, “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved” (Col. 3:12–17).

Friend, let us hold fast to the good news of the gospel, for it will anchor us as we navigate living in a broken world. And friend, let us look up, look around, and see all that God is accomplishing as He advances the gospel in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. When the world rolls in with its typical cynicism and fear, let’s be warm and radiant in a refreshing posture of thanks, and when we’re asked why, let’s make clear that we’re most thankful for the fact that the glorious gospel of Jesus is doing its work, saving souls and bearing fruit in the lives of those we love and all around the world. Jesus came to save sinners! This, friend, is the good news worthy of all of our praise, worship, and gratitude to God, for all of our days. Let us be marked by this beautiful good news.