11 21 07 Thankful Living
“……always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light.” (Colossians 1:12 NLT)

J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. a 1966 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years wrote, “Thankfulness is an important subject to the apostle Paul and in the Word of God as a whole. Some combination of the word is found 169 times in 162 verses in the NASB and 195 times in 186 verses in the NET Bible. Paul uses the concept over 40 times in his epistles and seven times in Colossians alone (cf. 1:2, 3,12; 2:7; 3:15, 17; 4:2). The concept of thankfulness in the New Testament comes from the use of two Greek words. The first is charizomai, which comes from charis, "grace." The second is homologeo, "to confess, acknowledge," (Heb. 13:15), (cf. also exomologeo, [Matt. 11:25]). Thankfulness is a mental and/or verbal expression of one's acknowledgement and appreciation of God's person, His grace, blessings, and sovereign work in one's life and the world. Some key ideas related to thankfulness are: biblical understanding, trust, humility and grace, the right focus and values, and joy. It is through the possession and function of these qualities that we become thankful. So, why should we be thankful?”

THANKFUL LIVING honors God; THANKFUL LIVING is commanded in Scripture and not living a thankful life leads to a humanistic point of view and dependence upon ourselves and others, not God, for our daily needs. We become occupied with “me and my problems” instead of all God has given to us. We become too involved with the creation rather than the CREATOR!

Is it not enough to live a thankful life simply in response to the fact that God has redeemed us from a sinful nature and an eternity of hell (pain, torture, and separation from God)? We, who are sinners, now have an inheritance with a holy and righteous God and through no efforts on our own behalf. It is simply because of His love, His grace, His mercy, through His Son, Jesus Christ!

This Thanksgiving, before we watch the games, bless the food, and thank those around us who have meant so much to us; let’s take more than just a few minutes to assess if we’ve been living a thankful life. Let’s assess the way we have been living before a gracious and forgiving God. Let’s seek His forgiveness for putting Him on the shelf and re-commit to thankful living, so a very selfish and thankless world will see Him in how we live and ask “why?”