Be Thankful!

Introduction

Jim and Elizabeth Elliot as some of you may know, were foreign missionaries to the nation of Ecuador and to a violent indigenous tribe their know as the Waodani. Jim Elliot and team felt called to this people after spending some time in Ecuador so they made contact by air dropping gift bags into the village to try and build a relationship with this tribe. Soon the gift bags were received and then they began to send gifts back up! Jim and team thought this was a good opportunity to make contact. So they landed a little away from the village and set up camp. A few days later some of the members from the tribe come over and spent a few days with the team and they began to show them love and invest time in them. The tribe members left after a few days then returned with more as Jim and co. hoped they would! However as Jim ran out to embrace their new friends, he was attacked and the team was martyred. This is a journal entry of Jim’s.

"Thank You, Lord, that You are a God of mercy. You could have left me to myself, but instead, You have given me this day to live for You. I thank You for the opportunity to speak to others about You, for the beauty of Your creation that I see each day, and for the chance to love those around me with the love You’ve shown me. In this moment, I am deeply thankful that You have given me purpose, that You have put me in this place, in this time, with these people. How often I take these things for granted, but today, I will remember Your goodness. I want to live each day in a spirit of thankfulness, recognizing the countless blessings that You have already poured out on me." - Jim Elliot April 8, 1949 Journal Entry

What set Jim Elliot apart was his deep sense of thankfulness to God, even in the face of danger. He once wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” His willingness to surrender his life for the sake of the gospel was rooted in a profound gratitude for God's grace and purpose. Jim Elliot’s legacy is one of unwavering faith, sacrificial love, and an unshakable spirit of thankfulness for the privilege of serving God. (chatGPT)

Context

Paul frequently employed thankfulness as one of the litmus tests of Christian health.

Richard R. Melick Jr.

Melick says this in his commentary on Colossians and we see all through the letter an admonition to be thankful! In his summary statement at the beginning of the letter Paul encourages the Colossians to grow in maturity and one way they do that is by being thankful.

So today, the question we will answer is how then do we practice thanksgiving in our daily life?

5 Ways to Practice Thankfulness in Your Daily Life from Colossians

Be thankful in your Piety, Colossians 2:6–7

Colossians 2:6–7 ESV

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Explain: Piety is just a fancy word for Faith. This point in the letter is a transition from a groundwork teaching about Jesus and His work on the cross to more practical “how-tos”. In the immediate case, it is the how to identify false teaching. Paul is reminding the Colossians that Christ is the of the foundation of their faith. So keep Christ at the fore-front. Because what has happened with the false teachings Paul is going to talk about is these teachers put themselves and their intellect, experience, effort, etc ahead of the work of Jesus Christ as sufficient enough. When we fully realize that Christ’s work alone is sufficient to save the souls of man we abound in thanksgiving.

Illustrate: Who knows what natural springs are? It’s an overflow of water that fills up in these underground reservoirs. Rain water floods the ground, soaks through into these reservoirs that fill up and once they get full they flow out into a natural spring. The grace of God that is Christ’s work on the cross in poured into our faith reservoirs and the overflow from that is thankfulness.

Apply: How do we show that thankfulness? Jesus gets all the glory. When we talk about our faith it begins and ends with him. Not anything I can do. It sounds like, “Thank you Jesus for your grace! Thank you Jesus for your salvation of my wicked soul. Thank you Jesus for you death, burial, and resurrection.” It sounds simple, but if we do that, it keeps our mind focused on Jesus as the root of our faith.

Be thankful to your people, Colossians 3:15

Colossians 3:15 ESV

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Explain: If you recall, the peace that Paul is talking about here is not just a surface level cordialness (if that is a word). It is a heartfelt “we good” between people. Not that you are best friends with every person but that you have a genuine care, concern, and gratitude towards them. Paul doesn’t just randomly add “and be thankful” either. We should be thankful for the Christians in our life. They help to shape who we are and who we are becoming. When we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, we are more thankful than we are critical of the people in our lives. Be thankful because their contribution to the building and building up of the kingdom is just as important as yours.

Illustrate: If you play any kind of team activity you may find this illustration helpful. Imagine you have just competed in a dance competition or basketball game or soccer match (etc) (and got the win or performed well). There is a common feeling of accomplishment among the team, right? Hattie and AvaGrace may not be best friends but they can look each other in the eye and have a mutual respect and appreciation for the other because they both just danced their tails off and both of their contributions mattered and for that they are thankful one for the other. Likewise this should be our mindset toward other believers (and non-believers too. Because we trust in the sovereignty of God, we know that non-believers too are placed in our life for a purpose). That mindset toward other people helps to create an atmosphere that is encouraging and uplifting and builds up the kingdom.

Apply: How do I show thankfulness to people? Thank them. Thank them to their face. Thank them to other people. Pay attention and see what they are doing that is praise worthy. When you are in a conversation and the people around you start to gossip about person X, you just step in and say how thankful you are about this specific thing. You want to see this student ministry unify? Start doing that and mean it when you see those people you would normally avoid and let it come from that peace of Christ that is ruling in your heart. A second point of application is to Thank you parents, Sunday School teachers, coaches, or instructors, etc. They sacrifice greatly for you and often I hear more complaints about them than I do gratitude.

Be thankful in your Praise, Colossians 3:16

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Explain: This admonition to the Colossians was Gospel-centric. Paul tells them to do all that they do corporately through the Word of Christ, which the Gospel. Our teaching, accountability, and praise (worship) should flow out from the Gospel. That gospel-centric praise produces a thankfulness in our hearts and that should show itself in our worship.

Illustrate: When thinking about our praise, our songs and teaching and such that we give to God. I was considering how I could illustrate this point a bit better and an old poem comes to mind that goes something like this

I wanna talk about me Wanna talk about I Wanna talk about number one Oh my, me my What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see I like talking about you, you, you, you, usually, but occasionally I wanna talk about me (me, me, me, me) I wanna talk about me (me, me, me, me) - Toby Keith

I am exaggerating of course, our worship is not that “me” centric, but the point is when we sing our praises to God or the messages we hear and teach, they should be filled with the Gospel. We should sing the gospel, teach the gospel, and preach the gospel.

Apply: How do you show thankfulness in your praise? Let your praise be thankful to God. I think Psalm 107 is appropriate to consider. Psalm 107:21–22. When someone leaves a church service, they should know that we serve a great God because our thanks, both in our attitude and our words, flow out. But this applies to your personal life of praise as well, though the passage is more corporate in nature, we can apply the same principle in our personal lives. When someone asks us how we are doing, we are blessed because God has granted us another breath. Yeah the specific circumstances may be tough but you are blessed because you have breath..

Psalm 107:21–22 ESV

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

Be thankful in your Passions, Colossians 3:17

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Explain: There isn’t much explanation needed here. The verse is pretty straight forward. All that you do is in the name of Jesus. So do it to the best of your abilities and give thanks to God. why do I say Passions? Well, this verse doesn’t put limitations on what merits thanks to God. “Whatever you do” so things that you have to do (school, a job, etc.), and likewise the things that you want to do, maybe things that you are good at (i.e. passions - sports, art, etc.) in all of those various circumstances we give thanks to God. Because it is God who gives us the ability and opportunity to do whatever it is that we are doing.

Illustrate: Alyssa Brito (Oklahoma Softball player) said in a post-game interview “this game gives us the opportunity to glorify Christ” that was in the third of OU’s four consecutive Women’s College Softball World Series titles and she was 1 of three who all had very similar responses to the question “How do you play with so much joy?” That is what it means to be thankful in our passions. These ladies could have praised all of the hard work that they put into their craft or their coach for her efforts or anything else, but they chose to point to Christ.

Apply: You don’t need a large platform or lots of eyes to do this though. You can thank God and give him glory in whatever you do. You make an A on that final? Thank you Lord for your grace because I know I didn’t put in the right amount of work or thank you God for giving me proper recall from all of my studies.

Be thankful in your Prayers, Colossians 4:2

Colossians 4:2 ESV

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Explain: The greek word steadfastly carries the more full meaning “to continue to do something with intense effort”. Paul says in other places we should pray without ceasing. Prayer is vitally important in our lives as Christians. This is the final encouragement toward thankfulness that Paul gives in his letter to the Colossians. The bookends are fitting as well as we see Paul start with an encouragement to be thankful in our faith and ends with an encouragement to be thankful in our prayer. The most vital areas of our spiritual life. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Lord orchestrated that the way he did. So our prayer should be filled with thanksgiving to God, for God, and for people.

Illustrate: Does anyone have those people in their life that just seem to always talk about their problems? Like every time you talk to them it’s woe is me because my cat had a hairball..or whatever. That gets draining doesn’t it? My mon had a longtime friend that she finally had to part ways with because all she did was whine about her problems…then when my mom had something going on that she needed some one to talk with, this friend gave her little time of day. That was very draining for my mom. She didn’t want to deal with it anymore…in addition to that, this “friend” missed a major opportunity to be a blessing to my mom. Now I’m not saying that if you complain to God he is going to cut you off…but what I am saying is if you spend all of your time in prayer voicing your problems, and your issues, and what you need from God, you are going to miss the blessings that God has given you. You are going to miss where God has delivered you. You are going to miss where God is pointing you to be a blessing to someone else.

Apply: try using this Prayer method when you do your quiet time prayers:

Adoration: tell God how awesome he is. shift the focus from you to God. He is saviour, healer, helper, redeemer, etc. Praise Him for who He is and what he has done.

Confession: Naturally the next step is confession of sin. When we realize we are talking to a perfect, holy and righteous God, we should feel compelled to confess our sin to Him.

Thanksgiving: Thank God for the blessing he has given you. For the people in your life, the provision he has brought, and opportunities that have come your way.

Supplication: This is the time when you ask God for his divine help to meet needs of your, of your family, your friends. To work in someone’s life, etc.

If you follow this model (I’d even encourage you to write it out) it will do well to keep you focused on God.

Conclusion

So what are the 5 ways you can practice thankfulness in your daily life?

Be thankful in your piety (faith)

Be thankful to your people.

Be thankful in your praise.

Be thankful in your passions.

Be thankful in your prayers.

There are two underlying principles that I think would help you with this refocusing on thankfulness are these:

Slow down and pay attention.

We move so fast in our life and we are constantly swinging from one event or activity to the next that we rarely slow down and look at the blessings. Making the mental effort to express more thankfulness (at least) in these areas will force you to slow down and pay attention to the people around you and the opportunities God has placed in front of you.

Thankful before therapeutic.

I said this phrase last week in regards to prayer and it has stuck with me because I think it applies al areas of our lives: when we talk with God or with people, when we sing worship songs, when we think about our faith, etc. What I am not saying is God does not want to hear about your problems. God wants to care for your emotional and mental well being. He is our comforter and healer. What I am saying is when we let those things dominate our mind and words, it dominates our identity. It dominates our life and we miss the beautiful blessings right in front of us.

I want to end with this quote from Jim Elliot. The man we discussed at the beginning:

"I do not believe that I am a martyr yet, but I do believe that I am willing to be one if God calls. I want to be like the men in Hebrews 11—those who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. I want to live and die for the glory of God. I want to be thankful for every day I am alive and have the privilege to serve Him. The great things He has done for me should leave me no choice but to live my life in joyful gratitude to Him.

I thank God that I have this day to serve, to do what I know is right, to give my life in His service. If I never see a single soul come to Christ, I will still be thankful for the opportunity to have been part of His work. In all circumstances, I will give thanks for His guidance, His mercy, and the joy of His presence.”

- Jim Elliot, November 29, 1949 Journal Entry

A life filled with thanksgiving and gratitude to God simply for being used by God can have world changing and life shaping impact.

Jim’s gratitude that oozed out through his writings inspired his wife Elisabeth to return to the very same tribe that took her husband’s life and advance the gospel.

Be thankful for the life you have been given and the opportunities you have to advance the Gospel in your family, friend groups, and school. You never know how much impact a simple thank you can have on someone, even yourself.