Giving Thanks
Colossians 3:15-17
Please join me in prayer this week for the victims of the Tsunami that has devastated many countries around the Indian Ocean. By the time you read this, the death toll will probably have grown past where it is now (120,000). I can’t even imagine entire villages and towns being erased from the map. We can pray, we can donate money, but we can even use tragic events like this one to be thankful for what we have.
I recently completed a history class in which I had to compare and contrast different parts of history. In a classroom setting, we often compare and contrast. We do it in relationship to our careers, our parenting styles, our children. We also compare and contrast our possessions. We usually do this with those that have more than us, and this might highlight our greedy side. Thinking about the Tsunami victims, think about the great loss of life, the great loss of homes, the great loss of food, and every other need in life in which they have suffered loss. Thinking about those who have such great needs makes me thankful for what I have, even if that isn’t all that much. How long this feeling of thankfulness will last is unknown, it’s sort of like a New Year’s resolution isn’t it? Thankfulness I mean.
Please take time to read Colossians 3:15-17. In this passage, Paul exhorts his readers to be thankful (15) and to give thanks (17). You may wonder about what things we should be thankful? Should we indeed give thanks for all things that happen? Those are good questions. If questions such as these arise in your heart, please email me and ask away. After all, I’d love these devotional tidbits to be a dialogue at times, not just a one way lecture on my part.
