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Today, I am grateful for my car that will carry me the four hundred miles down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I am grateful for the road trip snacks and the hospitality of those who will receive me when I arrive. Thanksgiving abounds for the church family I called home as a child and where I worked as women’s campus minister for six years. And tomorrow, we will give thanks together during a Ladies’ Brunch. We will remember what it is to give thanks, especially at the start of the holiday season. Our topic: “And Be Thankful.”
“And be thankful,” is a phrase tucked into chapter 3 of Colossians by the apostle Paul. It can either be seen as an afterthought: “Oh yeah, don’t forget to give thanks!” Or, we can see it as a pivotal and integral part of his instructions to the early church in Colossae. I prefer to see it as the latter. Read through the selected excerpt from Colossians 3 (verses 12-17) and see if you can accomplish any of those things without giving thanks.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 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.
Thank you, Father, that I am one of your chosen people. Thank you for setting me apart as your beloved child. When I recognize that truth, I am better able to clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Since you forgave me—an act for which I am eternally grateful, I am able to bear with others and forgive others. Your love transforms and unites. Thank you.
With an attitude of gratitude, I can dwell in your peace, you rule my heart and I am united with others. Without Christ’s message, my heart cannot teach, admonish or sing. The overflow of gratitude in my heart allows me to be filled with wisdom and Your Spirit. Yes, whatever I do, whether in word or deed, cannot be done if it is not in the name of the Lord Jesus, or without giving thanks to You through Him.
“And be thankful.”
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My nephew turned five years old. And, per tradition, I gave him the gift of reading and learning, in Spanish. I speak with him and his sister in only Spanish and we often have fun reading, singing, and playing games in Spanish.
However, already exhausted from a weekend full of family festivities, he turned with tears in his eyes to his parents, after opening my gift, and cried, “But I don’t like Spanish books.”
My sister and brother-in-law are doing a great job of raising a polite, grateful young man, but his expectations were crushed when he opened a bag of books in Spanish (in comparison to the Lego set Pops and Gigi gave him—the exact one he has wanted for over a year).
Prompted to respond with gratitude and not complaint, he turned to me and said, “Gracias Aunt M.”
At the moment, I thought, “He may not be as excited about it now, but when he is older, he will be appreciative of the special bond we have in Spanish, the memories of reading books in Spanish together, and the blessing of familiarity with another language and culture.”
And then my reflections turned inward... Children have a way of teaching us profound life lessons. And this experience was no exception.
How many times have I responded with complaint and not gratitude to God’s opportunities to learn and to be in communication and relationship with Him?
Convicted and inspired, I spent the next several days reflecting on my own attitude of gratitude and contentment. We are told that we can expect good gifts from the Father (Matt. 7:11), but not everything “good” is “fun.” We are called to be grateful for these gifts, even when they are not pleasant...
Thank you, God, for the thorns. I am growing.
Thank you, God, for the trials. I am learning.
Thank you, God, for the challenges. I am grateful.
What can you be thankful for today?