Thanksgiving is our PURPOSE!
Some people think that thanks-giving is merely an "attitude of gratitude" that makes life better or more bearable. They could not be more wrong! Giving thanks isn't the icing on the cake of life - it is one of the fundamental reasons of our existence.Today's reading demonstrates this powerfully:
Paul is praying for the Colossians. He prays that :
- they would know God's will
(through wisdom and understanding) - in order to life lives that please God by:
- bearing fruit in good works
- growing in their knowledge of God
- being strengthened by God to patiently endure
- joyfully giving thanks!
In his prayer, Paul also describes who we thank:
- We thank the Father who has qualified us and rescued us
(It is not us who have qualified!) - We thank the beloved Son in whom we have redemption and forgiveness. You can feel Paul echoing John 3:16 here...
- He rescued us from the dominion of darkness
- He brought us into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son
Read the passage below and notice:
- how God equips us
- what God did
- how He rescued us
- And how that all comes together in "joyfully giving thanks"
| For
this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his
will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this
in order that you 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, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his
glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and
joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share
in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has
rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom
of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins. (Colossians1:9-14) |
