Colossians Chapter 2: Verses 6-7 (NIV)
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.
Jeremiah Chapter 12:1-3 (NIV)
You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament readings for today caught my attention, initially for different reasons, but then as I pondered them, I realised that applying Paul’s advice in the verse from Colossians is a remedy for how Jeremiah was feeling in the Old Testament reading.
Paul is trying to reassure the Colossian church that their Christian walk doesn’t have to be complicated or even full of “super spiritual” experiences as some outside the church were trying to suggest. He tells them to put their roots down in the teaching of the Gospel which they had learned and just keep going that way. Never mind the latest trend or fad. We can all be guilty of wanting to try the latest trend, whatever that is, but the reassurance applies equally to us. The truth we accepted when we decided to follow Jesus is unchanged and that is the root on which our faith is built, no matter what anyone else says. The end of the sentence, however was what caught my attention, where Paul tells the Colossians to be “overflowing with thankfulness”. Am I? I should be, but I know I am not always “overflowing”. It’s a reminder that the easiest way to put the old maxim of counting our blessing into practice more often than we may currently do. Or to play the “glad game” so beloved in my childhood favourite story of “Pollyanna” by Eleanor H Porter, where the young girl taught others to focus on the things they did have rather than the things they didn’t.
It seems in the reading from Jeremiah that he has become focused on what’s happening around him where those who have no interest in the things of God seem to be doing better than those, like him who are trying to be faithful. Jeremiah recognises that God allows him to pour out his feelings and he acknowledges that sometimes we are tested by God to see if we really will stand firm for Him, even in the toughest of circumstances.
I am thankful therefore that God allows us to do likewise. He will not turn us away, and we too must acknowledge that there are times when our stand for, and faith in Him will also be tested by Him. I think that it’s in such circumstances where being overflowing with thankfulness will really help us to keep our focus and continue to be rooted and grounded in Christ. And I need to remember too, that Paul always practiced what he preached – so if he could be overflowing with thankfulness when stuck in a prison cell, then there’s really no excuse for me!
Dear Lord,
I am thankful for the life in Christ which I have by Your grace. Help me to remember that if I am tempted to lament what’s happening round about me. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.