Overflowing With Thankfulness

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Are you overflowing with thankfulness today? If you live in the United States, you might feel that such an abundance of gratitude is appropriate for today, since this is Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday set apart for giving thanks to God. But, even if you're not an American and today is just another workday, you still have every reason to be overflowing with thankfulness.

At least that's what we learn from Colossians 2:6-7. This passage speaks about how we are to live our lives as Christians. We are to do so, first and foremost, in Christ Jesus, rooted and built up in him. Christ is not only our sure foundation, but also the source of nutriment for fruitful living.

Living our lives in Christ is also a matter of being "strengthened in the faith as you were taught." Christian faith isn't simply a matter of feeling. It has intellectual content. Christian faith isn't something you can just make up on your own. The core content of the faith is something you and I need to learn. Living well in Christ depends on learning well the truth of the Gospel and putting it into practice.

Interestingly enough, the one aspect of this practice that Paul mentions here is gratitude. We are to be "overflowing with thankfulness." Such abundance of thanks comes as a result of and in response to God's grace in Christ. The more we let our roots grow deeply into Christ, the more we are built up in him, the more we grow in our understanding of our faith, the more we will overflow with gratitude.

So, on this day for giving thanks to God, we ought to consider and be grateful for the many gifts God has given us: family, friends, church, work, home, rest, health, security, freedom, and so much more. But, most of all, our thanksgiving overflows when we live in Christ, responding actively to the one who is Savior and Lord.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How have you experienced the love of God through Jesus Christ? What helps you to overflow with thanksgiving?

PRAYER: O Lord, I want to overflow with thanksgiving today, and not just today, but every day. I want to get up in the morning and rejoice in your grace to me. I want to receive every one of your good gifts with gratitude. Most of all, I want to abound in thanksgiving because of what you have done for me in Christ. May the truth of the Gospel, may the reality of your love, may the constancy of your mercy continually fill my heart with joy and my lips with thanksgiving. Amen.