Gratitude

Colossians 2: 6-7
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitudee.”

Overflowing with gratitude….the words stick out to me in the middle of this very deep and rich letter to the Colossian church. I’m sure most have heard the little rhyme, “have an attitude of gratitude”. But to overflow with gratitude is much more than an attitude; it is the act of being grateful. To audibly say thank you and to physically be gracious because you are thankful. I once heard a person state; that they had never seen a grateful teenager rebel. I made it an observation of mine to watch and see if it proved to be true with teenagers I worked with and with my own two children as they were growing up. It did! The real truth the Father has taught me through the observation is that the statement is true for all of us, no matter what season of life we find ourselves in. When I am ungrateful, I am saying that I am entitled to something or that I deserve something different or better. When my children were growing up, this scene played out multiple times; you know the one…someone gives your child something, your breath catches in your mom throat and thoughts race through your head like, “what will they say or what will they do?” Inevitably what comes out of your mom mouth is, “what do you say?” With your voice raising slightly at the end of the phrase so your child knows that they better say, “Thank you!” Teaching our children to be thankful is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing! But I wonder if that translates into our adult lives and into our Christian walk as a response that is expected of us. I don’t think God wants a learned response from us, I think He desires a heart overflowing with gratitude. I’ve been asking Him to do this work in me. I realize that I have no ability on my own to accomplish it! I wonder too, is this the disconnect? We often, like little children, know what our response should be and how we should act but I don’t think it always flows from an honest heart that is ultimately responsive to our God and the work He has done in our lives. On most days I need a perspective shift; I need my perspective to be swallowed up by His. I am convinced that gratitude is the key that unlocks this door. Gratitude allows me to perceive Him more clearly and enables me to see His hand and my circumstances as He sees them.

“Oh Lord, show me what it means to come to the table of thanksgiving daily and cultivate in me overflowing gratitude.”