Bro. Tim Germano and his family have just completed their first term serving in the Dominican Republic. We hope his article about abounding with thanksgiving will be a blessing to you as you begin the new year.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7
Paul penned these verses to a church that he had not met yet. He was encouraged by what he heard from the city of Colosse, and he desired to help them even more through his epistle. He told them in Colossians 2:6 that since they had received Christ as their Savior, then they ought to walk in him. The word walk means conducting oneself. It means progress. The church was to be moving forward for the Lord and modeling their lives after his life. He described this walk in Colossians 2:7. I want to focus on the last part of the verse. He said, “Abounding therein with thanksgiving.” God desires that we abound in our walk with him. He does not want us to just “coast” through life and get by.
I know that believers, myself included, too often are content with just checking off the boxes in their Christian walk. I go to church. I try to pray and read my Bible. I want to be a good testimony. But, God desires for us to do more than solely trudge along. He wants us to abound! The word abounding in the Greek means “to be over and above” (Strong’s Concordance). He wants us “to be over and above” in our walk in him. He wants us to be fruitful in this life. He wants us to abound in the qualities of a Christian who is conformed to the image of Christ!
Paul finished the thought of the verse, “Abounding therein with thanksgiving.” One of the ways that we abound in our walk with the Lord is in our thanksgiving. As we think of Thanksgiving this week, may we remember to abound in thanksgiving the other fifty-one weeks of the year! If we want to abound in our Christian walk, we must abound in gratitude to the Lord for who he is and what he has done. Paul told the Thessalonian believers, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” God’s will for each and every believer is thankfulness in everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly!
As we thank the Lord and dwell on Him, we will walk as He walked. When we are thankful, it is hard to be negative! When we are praising the Lord for who He is, it is hard to criticize our brother! When we are offering gratitude to the Lord for what He has done, it is difficult to complain about our circumstances. May we abound in our Christian walk, and may we do so with thanksgiving in everything each and every day of the year!
If this has been a blessing to you or you would like to share your thoughts with Bro. Germamo, you can contact him via email here.