For What Are You Thankful?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the second sentence of Colossians 3:15, Paul writes, “And be thankful.” Its just a three word sentence, but it speaks volumes to what the heart and mind of every believer in Christ should be.

We live in a world and a nation that far too often is far less thankful than it ought to be, taking things for granted far too often, and ungrateful and entitled far too frequently. Way too many people just expect certain things to be done for them and given too them, without any appreciation or gratitude whatsoever toward those who are serving their “expectations”. And the worst part of all of this is that way too many children are being raised with the same kind of ungrateful and entitled attitudes.

In the Small Catechism, Dr. Martin Luther gives us the meaning of the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. He states, “We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.” So in all things, we need to start with thinking about what we really deserve, and then remember what we have received from God’s hand instead.

We deserved punishment, but instead, by His grace, He has daily and richly provided us with all things. We deserve eternal death, but instead He has given us eternal life. We deserved nothing because of our sinfulness, but He has given us everything because of His grace.

When we step back and look at things from this perspective, we cannot help but have a renewed attitude of thankfulness and gratitude.

Someone once told me that if we were to think of life from the stand point of not having those things for which we have expressed no thanksgiving, what would our lives look like then without all those things? How empty would they be? This thought would move us to be far more thankful for far more things in our lives.

Now, for what people, places, things, relationships, gifts, protections, and providings are you truly thankful?

So now, for what are you thankful?

In Christ’s love, with gratitude,

Pastor Paul Pett